Mushrooms Stole a Trick From Bacteria. It Could Help Us Control the Weather
Can purloined genes make it rain?
What It Would Be Like to Surf Five Distant Planets
A surfing safari of the cosmos
A Brief History of the Bizarre-Looking Anglerfish
These mysterious species have a lot of tricks
Defending Our Consciousness Against the Algorithms
Why it’s good to be bored
Latest Stories
Cocaine Fish: How Salmon Behave When Amped Up on Coke
The effects of cocaine pollution in the world’s waterways
How Lonely Walks in Nature Can Make You Feel Less Alone
You’re never really by yourself in nature
Arachnophobes Beware: Tarantulas Are Way Smarter Than You Think
They’re particularly good at remembering where their prey is hiding
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Cutting-edge science, unraveled by the brightest living thinkers.
Astronomy
See more AstronomyCheck Out the Largest 3-D Map of the Universe
It spans over 11 billion years of cosmic history
The Best Photos of the Artemis II Mission
Humans have never taken photos of the moon like this
Two Supermassive Black Holes Are on a Cosmic Collision Course
Astronomers find a pair of super close, supermassive black holes for the first time
History
See more HistoryThe Birth of Genius
Leonardo da Vinci, polymath and victim of the vagaries of science funding, was born on this day
The Bra-and-Girdle Maker That Fashioned the Impossible for NASA
Crafting a spacesuit demanded perfection from seamstresses to gluers to engineers — every stitch could mean life or death
The Creator of the SAT Was an Infamous Eugenicist
The racist origin story of the most common college entrance exam
Psychology
See more Psychology
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Environment
See more EnvironmentThe Centuries-Old History of the Super El Niño
We may get an exceptionally strong El Niño this year, but we’ve been tracking the climatic cycle since 1578
The Crowd-Sourced Science to Save Endangered Succulents
Coalescing all known information about cacti for anyone who needs to know
Zoology
See more ZoologyLargest Known Collection of Bees Discovered Living in a Cemetery
Graveyards are teeming with life
Why Are Gray Whales Dying in the San Francisco Bay?
Ship encounters are deadly—even for 90,000-pound animals
Watch These Birds Use Their Tongues to Suck Up Nectar
It’s a striking example of convergent evolution
Philosophy
See more PhilosophyThe Bad Seed and the Problem of Blame
A conversation with behavioral geneticist Kathryn Paige Harden about the heritability of vice
A Light in the Dark: Finding the Good in the Natural World
Is it absurd to think that science can inform our values?
How ‘Tiny Shortcuts’ Are Poisoning Science
Seemingly harmless data tweaks are undermining the integrity of the entire field. We must define the problem to prevent it
An Ancient Mummy’s Tooth Could Rewrite Script of Scarlet Fever in the New World
European colonists are off the hook for this one
Read more
See all postsHumans Evolving, One Way or Another
Have we moved beyond the reach of natural selection? If so, it’s likely a relatively recent development.
The New Science of the Near-Death Experience
For the first time, scientists are studying these mysterious states in real time
Oldest Reptile Mummy Sheds Light on the Ancient Art of Breathing
Its rib breathing set the stage for further evolution of land animals
Was the Grand Canyon Born from an Ancient Lake Spillover?
It’s a surprisingly controversial question
Why Feeling Lonely Increases Your Risk for Heart Valve Disease
Social isolation can have effects beyond our mental health
Can the Brain Survive Cryonic Sleep?
Experiments with mouse tissue suggest memory and function may remain intact
Astronauts as Influencers
Artemis II was a wild ride that played out across social media to give the public unprecedented insight into space exploration
Why You Should Let Your Biological Clock Schedule Workouts
Going with the flow is better than fighting the system
