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Jupiter’s Incredible Shrinking Spot
Earth’s meteorology could explain what’s behind the great red whorl’s waning.
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When the Composer Is a Geneticist
Jenny Graves tired of singing about Adam and Eve. So she wrote a creation oratorio based on science.
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A Snaky Use for CRISPR
Indiana Jones would love to hear about this new application for the gene-editing technology.
The Porthole
Short sharp looks at science
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The Elegant Math of Machine Learning
Anil Ananthaswamy’s 3 greatest revelations while writing Why Machines Learn.
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A Reality Check on Superhuman AI
What’s missing from a bold new prediction of rapid progress in artificial intelligence.
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The Force Was with Them
My generation of filmmakers shook up cinema forever. Where are history’s periodic surges of creativity taking us?
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How We Solved the Hole in the Ozone
A scientist’s first-hand account shows the world can tackle a global environmental crisis.
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The Collapse Is Coming. Will Humanity Adapt?
An evolutionary biologist and a science fiction writer walk into a bar … and mull over survival.
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There Will Be Blood
Confronting the ethical and ecological dilemma over culling animals for conservation.
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The Lion Who Would Save the World
An anthropologist shows how bonding with another species could help humans come together.
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Consciousness, Creativity, and Godlike AI
American writer Meghan O’Gieblyn on when the mind is alive.
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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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Ray Kurzweil Still Lives in Utopia
The futurist doubles down on the Singularity in his latest book. -
The New Science of Animal Minds
The author on writing his new book Meet the Neighbors: Animal Minds and Life in a More-Than-Human World. -
What Happened to Ancient Megafauna?
Recent studies show it wasn’t the climate that did them in. -
Tanning With the Stars
Since we can’t travel to the stars, this philosophical trickster brings them to us. -
The Conservationist’s New Best Friend
With their astounding sense of smell, dogs are helping to sniff out ecological trouble. -
The Moss That Could Terraform Mars
A superhero plant that could thrive on the Red Planet. -
Don’t Miss the Electric Clouds This Summer
Climate change and rocket exhaust are seeding a light show in the northern skies. -
The Art of Quantum Forces
Two artists reveal the hidden magic in particle physics. -
March of the Spider Orchids
This flower uses sexual deception to spread. -
Big Brother of the Brain Is Here
A behavioral neurologist spells out the danger. -
The Unexpected Music of a Coral Reef
Listen to the carnival sounds of a healthy reef. -
The Haunted Forest of Butterflies
A winning photograph shows millions of Monarchs dripping from Mexico’s fir trees in winter. -
The Power of Physician Empathy
A new Rx for chronic pain? -
We’re Polluting Our Forests—with Noise
Are hiking and biking incompatible with protecting wildlife? -
A New Way to Predict Earthquakes
Using geometry to figure out where the next big one will strike. -
The Most Unlikely Migration
17 million insects cross the Pyrenees each year, with enormous impacts on the environment. -
Protecting Artists from Theft by AI
A new strategy for copyrighting a writer’s signature style. -
Bringing Mars to Earth with Music
A new symphony turns the science of the Red Planet into art. -
How Life Made Our Earth
Ferris Jabr’s 3 greatest revelations while writing his book, Becoming Earth. -
A Tiny Insect with Extraordinary Piss
The sharpshooter catapults its urine at high speed.