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Environment

Nuclear weapons tests many decades ago have left a radioactive legacy

Decades of aboveground nuclear weapons tests, starting in the 1950s, lightly littered the planet with toxic fallout, which appears to have sickened some people.

Materials Science

‘Stenciling’ tiny gold particles gives them new properties

Decorating nanoparticles with other chemicals could give them useful properties for medicines, textiles and more.

Fossils

Here’s why ammolite gems have a rainbow shimmer

The fossils’ fabulous colors arise from delicate assemblies of crystal plates.

Health & Medicine

Recruits agreed to be buried face down in the snow, for science

A safety device helped maintain the buried person’s oxygen levels for a half hour or more, which might provide time for an avalanche rescue.

Life

Scientists Say: Taxonomy

This field of study does more than just organize living things. It also reflects the history of life's evolution.

Space

This cosmologist studies the invisible parts of the universe

Katie Mack started out building solar-powered LEGO cars as a kid. Now she studies dark matter to better understand how galaxies form and evolve.

Science & Society

Linking science to dance, culture and more expands who can take part

Through movement, sound, culture and community, some researchers are expanding the ways we learn, think about and communicate science and engineering.

Physics

Chopping an onion? Sharp knives can keep its juice out of your eyes

Slow and steady cuts with a sharp blade, video shows, can reduce the pain-inducing spray of tiny onion-juice droplets.

Animals

Some Antarctic fish arrange their nests into odd shapes

Scientists found nests organized into curves, clusters and ovals on the Antarctic seabed. Such groupings may protect the fish eggs from predators.

Life

Let’s learn about life forms that have survived in space

Moss spores, bacteria and tardigrades have all proved their hardiness outside the International Space Station.

Math

Scientists Say: Logarithm

Think of this math function as just another way to solve equations involving exponents.

Chemistry

Scientists finally know why ice is so slippery

It’s not because ice heats up and then partially melts. Rather, ice changes at the molecular level — a process scientists have finally modeled.