It’s a wonderful world — and universe — out there.

Explainers

Background pieces for a deeper dive into a broad range of pivotal topics

Health & Medicine
By the numbers: How infectious measles and other diseases spread

By Helen ThompsonJuly 8, 2019
Earth
Explainer: Understanding geologic time

By Beth GeigerJune 13, 2019
Climate
Explainer: How heat kills

By Aimee CunninghamMay 2, 2019
Health & Medicine
Explainer: Vaccines are not linked to autism

By Kathiann Kowalski and Stephen OrnesApril 4, 2019
Life
Explainer: Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes

By Bethany BrookshireMarch 28, 2019
Physics
Explainer: What are black holes?

By Stephen OrnesMarch 27, 2019
Health & Medicine
Explainer: The benefits of phlegm, mucus and snot

By Bethany BrookshireFebruary 20, 2019
Climate
Explainer: The making of a snowflake

By Matthew CappucciFebruary 14, 2019

Genetics
Explainer: What are genes?

By Silke SchmidtFebruary 8, 2019
Earth
Why Antarctica and the Arctic are polar opposites

By Douglas FoxJanuary 31, 2019
Physics
Explainer: What is the electric grid?

By Kathiann KowalskiJanuary 24, 2019
Climate
Supercell: It’s the king of thunderstorms

By Matthew CappucciJanuary 18, 2019