All Stories
- Animals
How seahorses use their heads
A dwarf seahorse’s head may look funny, but its shape allows the creature to sneak up on fast-moving prey.
- Planets
Jupiter’s long-lasting storm
Most studies of Jupiter’s centuries-old Great Red Spot suggest this giant storm should have petered out after a few decades. A new study traces the storm’s staying power to the vertical movement of its gases.
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Smithsonian debuts teen learning center
The best way to get inspired by science is by doing it. An exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History hopes to excite teens with a state-of-the-art science experience.
- Health & Medicine
Cool Jobs: Data detectives
Statisticians are experts in seeing the patterns hidden within the raw numbers called data. They especially excel at finding real trends, while eliminating what is actually due to chance. That’s why they offer a good reality check in any field that involves numbers.
- Animals
Look ma — no stomach
Many animals can digest their meals without an acid-producing stomach. And research now shows they jettisoned those stomachs a long, long time ago.
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Measuring rain with your windshield wipers
Windshield wipers get rid of rain so you can see. But what if you could also use the windshield wipers of your car to measure rain? A new study says that we could, and it might help us learn more about the rainfall where we live.
- Computing
The data flood
Mountains of data drive advances in science, medicine and other fields. Here’s how they might affect you.
- Computing
Explainer: Data — waiting to become information
People want information. To get it, experts must sift through facts to find trends and other types of useful knowledge that has value.
- Computing
Explainer: Understanding the size of data
Data are beginning to accumulate in quantities of mammoth size.
- Science & Society
Human ancestors threw spears
Who threw first? Scientists had long believed that ancient people who lived 80,000 years ago were the first to throw spears with stone tips. But the discovery of 279,000-year-old stone spear tips in Ethiopia pushes that date back, and suggests prehuman species hunted with spears too.
- Science & Society
Bigger groups make better tools
As the size of a population grows, so too does its ability to quickly create clever new tools. Lab experiments suggest that connections between people give rise to the new creations.
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This holiday season, give the gift of doing science
Whether it’s going on a nature walk, building something together, or using an app, you can help get a kid excited about science.
