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

Explainers

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

Animals
Explainer: What is a whale?

By Janet RaloffJuly 1, 2014
Fossils
Explainer: How a fossil forms

By Sarah ZielinskiJune 18, 2014
Health & Medicine
Explainer: Tips for overcoming loneliness

By Hugh WestrupApril 19, 2014
Physics
Explainer: How lasers make ‘optical molasses’

By Janet RaloffApril 16, 2014
Brain
Understanding Autism

By Bryn NelsonApril 3, 2014
Earth
Explainer: Telling a tsunami from a seiche

By Stephen OrnesMarch 26, 2014
Health & Medicine
Explainer: What is a hookah?

By Amanda Leigh MascarelliMarch 19, 2014
Health & Medicine
Explainer: What are e-cigarettes?

By Amanda Leigh MascarelliMarch 19, 2014

Environment
Explainer: How and why fires burn

By Stephen OrnesMarch 14, 2014
Computing
Explainer: Data — waiting to become information

By Janet RaloffDecember 13, 2013
Computing
Explainer: Understanding the size of data

By Stephen OrnesDecember 13, 2013
Earth
Explainer: Ice sheets and glaciers

By Douglas FoxSeptember 4, 2013