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Looking at Art on Psychedelics
People took mushrooms, then studied famous paintings. Here’s what happened.
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Wild Orbits Prime Planets for Life
Looking for habitable worlds? Check the ones with extreme swings.
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They Came for Climate Science. Then the Storms Came.
The administration’s cuts to climate research are destroying decades of science—and life-saving forecasts
The Porthole
Short sharp looks at science
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Origami Fit for the Cosmos
The traditional art of paper folding has long been used in space, but new flower-like patterns could be game-changers
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How Skinks and Honey Badgers Fight Cobra Venom
Some animals evolved a remarkably similar trick to survive
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Can Humanity Stem the Plastic Tide?
Plastic pollution is costing the world $1.5 trillion a year in health-related losses
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This Cloud Forest Should Not Exist
The story of an Ecuadorean forest that fought annihilation and won
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Hope Catches a Tailwind
Dona Bertarelli brings her intimate knowledge of the high seas to advocate for conserving ocean ecosystems
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AI Already Knows Us Too Well
Chatbots profile our personalities, which could give them the keys to drive our thoughts—and actions
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What We Misunderstand About Robots
Sci-fi master Adrian Tchaikovsky on evolution, other minds, and the politics of science
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Is It Cake? How Our Brain Deciphers Materials
Neuroscientists are discovering how this basic ability, essential to our survival, works
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How To Tell If You’re Dead
The line between life and death has never been clear—and modern technology blurs it further
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Evolution and Guinea Pig Toes
How one animal’s oddity inspired Sewall Wright to take on one of Darwin’s big ideas
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Stranger Things in the Universe
New data about dark energy is a reminder that cosmology is a never-ending story
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Neutron Stars Hint at Another Dimension
Are the mysterious stars clues to one of the greatest mysteries in the universe?
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The Sean Carrolls Explain the Universe
Why are we here? Is there life on other planets? The renowned scientists who share a name share their answers to life’s big questions.
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The Soviet Rebel of Music
He composed on a computer in a dangerous time. His echo is still heard today.
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How Whales Could Help Us Speak to Aliens
Learning to decode complex communication on Earth may give us a leg up if intelligent life from space makes contact.
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The Cosmos Is Trying to Kill Us
Airbursts from space may be more common than we thought -
This Mars Probe Went Missing
A space tragedy illuminates the risks of penny pinching -
When the Ocean Floor Came Alive
The first map of the Atlantic seafloor revealed a dynamic world under the waves -
A Rogue New Life Form
A tiny microbe discovered by accident challenges the definition of cellular life -
The Tortured Paths of the Wound Man
From medical diagram to international artwork -
Making Backpacks for Tiny Fish
A new generation of petite, submersible tracking tags offers a fresh look at the lives of little fishes -
A Beautiful Accident Etched in Crystal
This microscopic garden was a miraculous failure -
This Muppet Is a Memory Device
Developing a high-tech, brain-like memory device led to a “cute surprise” -
I Could Smell Their Breath
Making friends with a wolf pack -
Stalagmites Offer Clues to Maya Mystery
Chemical fingerprints point to reason for collapse -
Flat Earthers on a Cruise
How evolution wired us to act against our own best interests -
Is Solving the Plastic Problem a Moral Issue?
The Dalai Lama, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Vatican weigh in -
How to Restore a Rembrandt
It takes more than good chemistry -
First Views of the Perseid Meteor Shower
An early peep for this year’s peak -
These Spiders Kill with Their Vomit
Unlike most spiders, they lack venom-filled fangs -
Orchids Thrive Among the Dead
Cemeteries are a gravely overlooked habitat for wild orchids in Europe -
Spying the Medusa Slayer’s Meteor Shower
The annual Perseid shower spectacle is back—here’s how to view it and where it comes from -
A Brief History of mRNA Vaccines
When vaccine research funding is cut, people will die -
The Philosophy of Tyranny
What a formative period in Plato’s life tells us about US politics today -
The Data in a Dino’s Smile
Dinosaur teeth are unique windows into Earth’s ancient air