All Stories
- Plants
A genetic trick leaves these stinky plants reeking of rotting flesh
This DNA tweak in plants harnesses the same molecule behind our bad breath and transforms it into something worse: the stink of rotting flesh or dung.
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- Animals
Analyze This: Moving frogs to new places helped an endangered species spread
Frogs resistant to a deadly fungus jump-started populations in these new areas.
- Physics
Can a supervillain destroy the sun?
Although our sun is a dwarf yellow star, it’s more than massive enough to weather any attempts to alter it — super or otherwise.
- Brain
Mice show us why food poisoning is so hard to forget
Working with mice, scientists have mapped a brain pathway that links an unfamiliar flavor with later food poisoning symptoms.
- Artificial Intelligence
This researcher investigates the risks of digitally cloning the dead
Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basińska investigates the risk of AI-driven grief bots — while commuting between Poland and England.
- Animals
The rear end of this ancient wasp was built like a Venus flytrap
The newfound wasp species — from 99 million years ago — likely laid eggs on the small creatures that would have been caught in this trap.
- Ecosystems
Scientists Say: Ecosystem
The interplay between living things and the physical environment gives rise to Earth’s thriving, life-sustaining ecosystems.
- Environment
Study uncovers secrets in water’s underground treks
Water's subterranean travels can be long, slow — and carry pollutants far from where they first got drawn into the Earth.
- Genetics
DNA confirmed a Pueblo tribe’s ties to Chaco Canyon
DNA supports Picuris Pueblo stories of their ancestry going back more than 1,000 years — to the famous Chaco Canyon site.
- Space
A passing star could fling Earth out of orbit — or into the sun
Computer models show that a star's tug could send Mercury, Venus or Mars crashing into Earth — or let Jupiter eject our world from the solar system.
- Space
Scientists Say: Quasi-satellite
Unlike a true satellite, these tagalongs orbit outside a planet’s primary sphere of gravitational control.
