This Was a Big Week for Marie Curie, More Than 120 Years Ago
Despite steep odds, she became the first woman in France to earn a doctorate in science
James Webb Space Telescope Captures the Cigar Galaxy’s Brilliant Stellar Halo in Pristine Detail
The newly released images offer hints into the galaxy’s turbulent past
Coincidences in My Life Have Me Wondering
My search for a hidden structure to astronomically unlikely occurrences
How Humans Are Like Bloodhounds and Bats
A conversation with writer Richard Louv, who coined the term “nature deficit disorder”
How Fruit Flies Manage Their Exceptionally Long Sperm
If human sperm were a foot long, fruit fly sperm would span three football fields
Latest Stories
Some Neanderthals Were Genetically Healthy Right Up Until the End
Not all populations of the ancient human species were struggling prior to their mysterious demise
Perseverance Scratches the Martian Surface, Finds Organic Carbon
Another hint life may have existed on the red planet
Archaic Hominin Species Buried Only Their Women
Ancient proteins recovered from the teeth of Homo naledi fossils tell the tale
Read Stories from Our Newest Print Issue: Precarious
See moreThe Cephalopods Are Coming
Fossil records reveal Earth’s mass extinctions are followed by a rise of ocean cephalopods. They’re rising again.
Schrödinger’s Kittens Are All Grown Up
Offspring of the most famous thought experiment in physics are now testing the very fabric of the universe
The Most Precarious Day in the Universe
On the same day the world descended into war, physicists saw reality itself unraveling
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Cutting-edge science, unraveled by the brightest living thinkers.
Astronomy
See more AstronomySee the Milky Way’s Galactic Bulge, Captured in Unprecedented Detail
60 million stars never looked so good
Take a Gander at an Ancient Supernova in the Heart of the Milky Way
The remnants of a star that exploded 1,700 years ago
History
See more HistoryToday Was the Day Galileo Caved
On this day almost four centuries ago, the father of modern science was forced to bow to political and religious pressure to save his life
The Model for Botticelli’s Venus Died at 23
And researchers have a new theory for her untimely demise
This Cosmonaut Was the First Woman in Space
The Soviet Union beat the United States to the punch by 20 years
Psychology
See more Psychology“Me, Myself, and I”: The Increasing Narcissism of Western Music
Individualistic pronouns have grown more common in pop songs over the past half century
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Environment
See more EnvironmentCan We Air-Condition Our Way Out of Climate Change?
No. But in the midst of intense heat waves it may be necessary to save lives.
Hidden Fungal Networks Could Stretch from the Earth to the Sun a Billion Times Over
A new map of global mycorrhizal fungi details the massive scope of the vital systems
These Overlooked Pollutants Cause About 15 Percent of Global Warming
And scientists are sounding the alarm
Zoology
See more ZoologyOrangutans Seek Out Medicinal Plants
In fact, they’re some of the same plants used pharmacologically by local Indigenous people
Qatari Sand Cats Caught on Camera for the First Time
The elusive creatures were thought to have vanished
How to Dodge a Mountain Lion
A new look at puma-human encounters in the mountains of California
Philosophy
See more PhilosophyThe Inventor of the Thinking Machine Didn’t Worry. Neither Should You
In this age of AI anxiety, listen to your heart
Science Is Political—and Spiritual
Author and physicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein on the crisis in American science
Aliens Probably Have Consciousness
A conversation with a philosopher about extraterrestrial and machine minds
How Obesity Leads to Memory Loss
Scientists want to know if aging and an expanded waistline affect memory in the same way
Read more
See all postsEveryone’s Been Drawing Pterosaur Wings Wrong
Theoretical reconstructions hint at versatile approaches to prehistoric flight
The Unlucky Ones: What It Feels Like to Get Struck By Lightning
A bolt may ignite seeming genius, but is more likely to deliver agony
How City Rats Are Becoming Resistant to Poison
They’re evolving faster than we can stop them
Does Nurture Trump Nature in Disease Risk Prediction?
Social determinants of health can match or exceed genetic risk of common diseases
Here’s Why Men’s World Cup Athletes Wear Sports Bras
Hint: It’s more for science than for support
The Physics Behind the Poo Emoji’s Shape
And how lugworms tweak the rules by pooping upside down
All the Microbes That Could Survive in Space
They could complicate the hunt for extraterrestrial life—and compromise astronaut health
Can the Sugar Molecules That Coat Our Cells Predict Our Health?
Glycans, once ignored, may revolutionize medicine
These Ancient Baby Predators Challenge Our Understanding of Evolution
The first animals onto terra firma weren’t amphibians as previously suspected
