All Articles
What’s Fueling Today’s Extreme Fires
A geophysicist breaks down the elements of wildfires.
Exponentially Important: The Scientific Origins of PCR
Thanks to lab techniques like PCR, we can detect the presence of dangerous viruses with laser-sharp precision.
The Fine Line Between Reality and Imaginary
We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are.
The Incredible Fig
The fig is an ecological marvel. Although you may never want to eat one again.
Life Always Wins. Follow Me
A botanist is introduced to escapees from the atomic bomb in Hiroshima.
The ‘Weirdest’ Matter, Made of Partial Particles, Defies Description
Theorists are in a frenzy over “fractons,” bizarre, but potentially useful, hypothetical particles that can only move in combination with one another.
DNA Has Four Bases. Some Viruses Swap in a Fifth.
The DNA of some viruses doesn’t use the same four nucleotide bases found in all other life. New work shows how this exception is possible and hints that it could be more common than we think.
Going Deep With Hadal Zone Expert Alan Jamieson
This British scientist explores terrain 35,000 feet below the surface—and has some advice for the landlubbers.
Reports of a Baleful Internet Are Greatly Exaggerated
Our digital technologies can in fact be cognitive aids.