Scientists have named plenty of species after celebrities. But Andre Nemesio, from the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia in Brazil, who recently discovered a new species of orchid bee, went in a slightly different direction: He named the bee Euglossa bazinga for the phrase oft-uttered by The Big Bang Theory character Sheldon... READ ON

Tis the season to be getting the cold and flu. But is it possible for the bacteria and viruses that infect us so easily to get sick themselves?In 1917, a microbiologist working at the Pasteur Institute in Paris discovered what he described as an invisible, antagonistic microbe that had a parasitic relationship with bacteria. He called it a bacteriophage (from phagein, "to eat"), a virus that infects... READ ON

There is much about earthquakes that is a mystery, even to scientists. But a new video—showing four earthquakes in both real time and slow motion—is showing us how the ground moves as a quake ripples through it. The video is the result of a study done by geologists working for Signal Hill Petroleum and Nodal Seismic. In 2011, the scientists deployed seismic arrays consisting of 5300 nodes spaced 330 feet apart to measure the 3D rock formation below their Long Beach oilfield. "The sensors... READ ON

For 75 years, scientists have wondered what caused the Hindenburg, the world's largest airship, to catch on fire as it landed during a thunderstorm in Lakehurst, New Jersey on May 6, 1937. This past Sunday, the Discovery Channel's Curiosity tackled the mystery, building the largest replicas of the airship—one-tenth of the original's size—to test out a few of the most popular theories. You can check out video of one of the builds below. The Curiosity team used the scale models to test out four... READ ON