SCIENCE

NASA Debuts ‘Galaxy of Horrors’ Exoplanet Posters, Just in Time for Halloween

It’s death by a million cuts on a slasher planet where glass shards blow through the air faster than 5400 mph.

Seven Snorkeling Grandmas Discovered a Deadly Sea Snake Population

The “Fantastic Grandmothers” volunteered to use their New Caledonia snorkeling trips to photograph the venomous reptiles.

Not Free, Bird: Russian Researchers Were Bankrupted by Their Tagged Eagles’ Roaming Charges

Steppe eagles have 7-foot wingspans, mainly eat carrion, and never read the fine print on their cell phone plans.

Thomas Edison

Inventor Thomas Edison's life was about more than just the light bulb. Find out more about this 20th-century trailblazer.

This Phone Case Made of Artificial Human Skin Is Designed to Do More Than Creep People Out

If you’ve ever thought something along the lines of, “Phone cases would be so much better if they were made out of human skin”—and let’s face it, who hasn’t—then you’re in luck.

The Fast and the Furry-ous: Watch Rats Drive Tiny Cars in the Name of Science

Maze-running lab rats can definitely teach us a lot, but car-operating ones could teach us even more.

Lin uses his iPad to visualize scanning data of a crusaders' fortress at the lagoon in Acre, Israel.

Mapping Technology Reveals 'Lost Cities' on National Geographic

Armed with a drone, an iPad, and a thirst for adventure, Albert Lin reveals what we can learn about the past with today's technology in a new TV series.

Some Mathematicians Think the Equal Sign is On Its Way Out

Goodbye equality, hello equivalency: A growing number of mathematicians is skeptical that the equal sign holds up to new math models.

You Can Now Go Inside Chernobyl’s Reactor 4 Control Room

Did HBO’s ‘Chernobyl’ leave you wanting more? Don a hazmat suit and tour the control room in all its radioactive glory.

A Huge Full Hunter’s Moon Will Light Up The Sky This Weekend

The next full moon will be extra bright, extra big, and hard to miss. Here’s the best time to look up at October's hunter's moon.

9 Surprising Facts About the Scientific Study of Sex

The scientific study of sex is much more exciting than an awkward sex ed class. Even if it means learning the truth about how many calories you actually burn when things get hot and heavy.

11 Apps That Will Make You Feel Smarter

Your smartphone is the window to all the knowledge in the world—and these apps will help you unlock it.

Venus Flytraps in Peril: Why Everyone's Favorite Carnivorous Houseplant Is Under Threat

The Venus flytrap is a favorite houseplant, but its ubiquity hides a world of threats. Now, some scientists think they have a solution for saving it.

Does the Amazon Rainforest Really Produce 20 Percent of the World's Oxygen?

For years, media outlets have claimed that the Amazon rainforest is responsible for producing 20 percent of the world's oxygen. But is it true?

Fancy Tea Bags Could Be Contaminating Your Cup With Billions of Microplastics

Some fancy tea bags made from silky plastic material diffuse more than tea into your cup. A recent study found they can leach up to 11.6 billion particles of microplastic.

Retro Analysis: The Science of Nostalgia

What keeps us coming back to old cartoons, movies, and the '90210' reboot? The same reward system in the brain that responds to eating great food or winning money.

What Purpose Does the Belly Button Serve?

It may have done its most important work when it was attached to your umbilical cord, but it’s not completely useless.

8 Fascinating Facts About Body Farms

These morbidly fascinating research facilities allow criminal investigators to probe what happens to bodies after death.

Dreaming Might Help Us Erase Unneeded Memories

Our brains might be using REM sleep as a time to sweep away unnecessary information and prepare for a fresh influx of knowledge.

Alcohol-Producing Gut Bacteria May Harm Livers—Even if You Don't Drink

A type of bacteria in the gut could be making enough alcohol to damage livers, even in people who have never had a drop of booze.

5 Hilarious Discoveries from the 2019 Ig Nobel Prize Winners

From cube-shaped wombat poop to postmen’s scrotal temperatures, these weird science experiments have taught us a lot.

An Exercise in Poo-Tility: Scientist Tries to Make a Knife Out of Poop

In an effort to substantiate an old tale of an Inuit who crafted a knife out of feces, a Kent State University professor attempted to forge a similar tool from his own poop. The results stunk.

How Two Biologists Put A Killer Whale Back Together, Bone by Bone

When an orca whale was found dead near Vancouver Island in British Columbia, it wasn't the end of its story. Two of the world's best skeleton articulators gave the killer whale a second life in a museum.

The Reason Newborn Babies Don't Produce Tears

Newborns can wail like emergency sirens, but you don't typically see them producing tears. Here's why.

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