All Stories
- Space
They came from other stars! [COMIC]
Only three interstellar objects have ever been spotted. Here’s what we know about them and why they’re so cool.
- Earth
Experiment: How does the tilt of Earth’s axis affect the seasons?
Seasons have nothing to do with Earth’s distance from the sun. The real reason for the seasons is the tilt of Earth’s axis.
- Tech
A mosquito’s mouth can ‘print’ lines thinner than a human hair
Scientists turned a mosquito’s straw-like mouthpart into a 3-D printing nozzle that creates ultra-thin lines.
- Animals
Chicago’s Rat Hole? Science concludes it’s likely not from a rat
Researchers employed tools of paleontology to analyze the iconic landmark — a sidewalk critter crater made when a mystery rodent fell into wet concrete.
- Brain
Scientists Say: Hallucination
Humans are not the only ones who can hallucinate. When a chatbot confidently generates a plausible but incorrect response, this error is called a hallucination.
- Plants
Yum! Flies swarm to a flower that smells like wounded ants
A type of Japanese dogsbane emits the distress signal of injured ants — a particular scent — to draw in scavenging flies that end up pollinating its flowers.
- Psychology
Everyone experiences malicious joy now and then
Called schadenfreude, feeling happy when we see someone else’s pain is typically harmless. But unchecked, it can have big consequences.
- Artificial Intelligence
Chatbots may make learning feel easy — but it’s shallow
People who use search engines gain deeper knowledge and care more about what they learn than those who rely on AI chatbots, a new study finds.
- Animals
Is it possible to be invisible?
Fiction is full of characters with the power to vanish. But some animals have real-life ways to become nearly invisible.
- Microbes
Let’s learn about viruses
Viruses cause a huge range of illnesses, but vaccines can help protect you against these infections.
- Animals
RNA from mummified woolly mammoth is the oldest ever recovered
Genetic details from the animal, named Yuka, give a snapshot into its last moments alive. The mammoth had been preserved in permafrost for 40,000 years.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Haboob
Thunderstorms in the desert create downdrafts that lift desert sand into a moving, wall-like cloud.
