SCIENCE

People Who Decorate for the Holidays Are Perceived as Friendlier, According to Science

A 30-year-old study found that people who decorate their homes for the holidays tend to appear friendlier to their neighbors.

Vengolis, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 4.0

Listen: Honeybees Alert Their Pals When Killer Hornets Are Nearby By Letting Out a Horrific ‘Scream’

Asian honeybees have developed a disturbing defense mechanism against hornet attacks: "screaming" with their wings.

Is this Bloody Mary part of the problem or solution?

Can Drinking More Alcohol Cure a Hangover? The Truth Behind the Hair of the Dog

The hair of the dog is one of the oldest hangover cures still around today. But can it really save you from that pounding headache?

The look of fear when you realize someone's about to drop you, an eyeball, from a great height.

Watch: Scientists Discover What Happens When You Drop an Eyeball From a Five-Story Height

As the Institute of Human Anatomy demonstrates, it takes more than a long fall to make an eyeball go splat.

Heinz’s New Ketchup Was Made From Tomatoes Grown in a Mars-Like Greenhouse

Farming on Mars may not be as easy as it looks in 2015’s ‘The Martian,’ but a new Heinz ketchup suggests it might be possible.

Channel 37 was a mystery to old-school viewers.

Analog TVs Never Had a Channel 37—Here's Why

Old-school channel-flipping was usually interrupted by static on channel 37. Broadcasters wanted to use it, but they couldn't—because of science.

A tongue-eating parasite is just one of the many charming wonders of nature.

Meet the Tongue-Eating Louse, Which Does Exactly What You Think It Does

The tongue-eating louse is a charming little isopod that likes to burrow into a fish's gills, settle in its mouth, then suck the blood out of its tongue until it falls off so that it can replace the organ and dine on the mucus.

Mykyta Dolmatov // iStock via Getty Images Plus

7 Scientific Mysteries

Scientific mysteries continue to stump experts in fields ranging from meteorology to medicine. Here are a few strange things science still hasn't figured out.

Three planets over the La Silla Observatory in Chile.

See Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter Align on Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving, star-gazers can be thankful for a trio of planets lining up in the night sky after sunset.

Australia Is Vaccinating Hundreds of Its Koalas Against Chlamydia

Many of Australia’s koalas have chlamydia, which is making it extra difficult for them to keep their population numbers up.

An illustration of a woolly mammoth, blissfully unaware of its species impending doom.

20 Cool Facts About the Ice Age

How many ice ages have there been so far? The same number of ‘Ice Age’ movies that have been released. (Five.)

Bobbing along on the bottom of the beautiful briny sea is often easier said than done.

Just How Deep Is the Ocean? Watch and See

MetaBallStudios is helping you visualize ocean depths and other underwater spots, from the ‘Titanic’ shipwreck to the Mariana Trench.

Your Baby's Poop May Be Full of Microplastics

Your baby's diaper may be harboring a different kind of nasty surprise: lots of microplastics from clothing, toys, and formula bottles.

Calving is one way that glaciers lose ice.

12 Disappearing Glaciers Around the World

If you want to behold some of the world's most majestic glaciers on six continents, you better act fast.

Rimma_Bondarenko/iStock via Getty Images

The Science Behind Our Pumpkin Spice Obsession

The scent of a pumpkin spice latte is the smell of autumn to many people, thanks to how the brain perceives odor.

This Self-Cleaning Water Bottle Uses UV Light To Remove Bacteria And Viruses From Drinking Water

This innovative self-cleaning water bottle on Kickstarter uses UV light to purify water and remove up to 99.9 percent of bacteria and viruses.

Jen Siska (author photo), W.W. Norton (book cover)

7 Hilarious Footnotes From Mary Roach's New Book, Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law

There are few diversions more delightful than the footnotes in author Mary Roach’s books—and the footnotes in her latest, 'Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law,' are no exception.

Here's What Really Happens When You Swallow Gum

If you've managed to get this far in life without swallowing gum, you may ask yourself: Can ingesting gum really hurt you?

10 of the Scariest-Looking Animals in Existence

Scientists estimate that roughly 8.7 million species of plants and animals roam the Earth today. And some of them might haunt your dreams.

The core sample seen in its not-yet-sealed titanium tube.

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Just Collected the First-Ever Rock Sample From Mars

More than half a year after NASA’s Mars rover, Perseverance, landed on the Red Planet, it secured its first pet rock.

The Reason Heat Makes You So Tired

Why does heat make you so tired? Because even if you’re just lounging around, your body is working hard.

24 Fascinating Facts About the Solar System

The solar system: It’s big, it’s heliocentric, and it’s got space junk to spare. Here are 24 out-of-this-world facts about the corner of space that’s home to Earth.

Koalas Have Fingerprints That Are Nearly Indistinguishable From Ours

Though humans and koalas don't have much in common, there is one big similarity: fingerprints. Koalas have looping fingerprints just like humans, and some might not be able to tell them apart.

Octopuses Will Throw Things to Scare Off Unwelcome Guests

If you're an uninvited guest to an octopus hangout, you need to be prepared for a seashell coming at your dome.

PREV NEXT