All Stories
- Climate
Microbes that dwell in tree bark devour major climate gases
Hidden in plain sight, this huge community of tree-bark microbes dines on gases — such as methane — that warm Earth’s atmosphere.
- Animals
Mummies suggest a way to help reintroduce cheetahs to Arabia
DNA from Arabian cheetah remains reveals that these now-extinct populations might be replaced by rewilding close cheetah relatives from northwest Africa.
- Physics
Could a person ever wield lightning as a weapon?
From the shocking powers of electric eels to laser-guided lightning, aiming electricity is more real than it sounds.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists Say: Symptom
A runny nose, fever or feeling of fatigue might clue your doctor in to the right diagnosis.
- Animals
As toddlers, chimps are major risk takers
Human kiddos are generally too closely supervised to be able to monkey around as much as young chimps. Instead, older kids — teens — are usually the bigger risk takers.
- Environment
Antarctica faces a green and weedy future
Warming is allowing alien species to invade a land that had been isolated for 30 million years. They now threaten local ecosystems unique to Antarctica.
- Tech
New light-activated coating can kill stubborn germs
Based on graphene, this new material can knock out hard-to-kill germs on contact — even in your mouth.
- Physics
Let’s learn how to make a sports ball soar
A ball’s shape and spin both affect how it flies through the air.
- Plants
Scientists Say: Pollination
Plants call upon wind, water or helpful animals to carry out this crucial step of their life cycle.
- Fossils
Prehistoric ‘sea’ monster also lurked in rivers, data show
A 66-million-year-old fossil tooth turned up alongside remains of a T. rex and ancient crocodile. This shows some mosasaurs roamed into rivers.
- Archaeology
Neandertals used fire-making tools 400,000 years ago
Flint, iron pyrite and fire residues found at an ancient site in England offer the earliest clear evidence of people lighting fires.
- Math
Ever wonder where our math symbols came from? Here are their stories
Their quirky history could help us better appreciate math as a living language — one whose symbols evolved over centuries.
