All Stories
- Life
There’s life beneath the snow, but it’s at risk of melting away
An array of animals and plants survive winter in the subnivium, nature’s igloo. But climate change is threatening this hidden seasonal ecosystem.
- Tech
This detached hand robot has a thing for skittering on its fingertips
The robot can bend, grasp and carry in ways humans can’t, which could help it navigate spaces too confined for human arms.
- Plants
'In Botanical Time' explores the ways Earth’s oldest plants cheat death
Author Christopher Woods unpacks the science behind ancient plants’ longevity in a new book.
- Animals
This tool-using cow defies expectations for bovine braininess
Veronika the cow uses a brush as a tool to scratch herself, revealing rare problem-solving skills and expanding what we know of tool use in animals.
- Animals
This fish may play a hole in its head like a drum
The rockhead poacher is a little fish with a big pit in its head. The divot may be like a drum, making sound that rises above a chaotic, nearshore din.
- Earth
A long-lost tectonic fragment may be shaking Northern California
Seismic tremors reveal a shallow fragment of an ancient tectonic plate beneath Northern California, helping explain damaging earthquakes near the surface.
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Math puzzle: The homesick rover
Solve the math puzzle from our February 2026 issue, where we plan a return passage for a robotic explorer that doesn’t want to explore.
- Animals
Animal personalities can play a big role in saving species
From bold foxes to gregarious birds, animals’ personalities are increasingly being seen as crucial to conservation efforts.
- Health & Medicine
Color blindness hides a key warning sign of bladder cancer
A large U.S. health records study suggests that difficulty seeing blood in urine may put color-blind patients at higher risk.
- Animals
How cheetah mummies could help bring the species back to Arabia
Arabian cheetah mummies' DNA reveals that the long-lost population could be closely replaced by a cheetah population in northwestern Africa.
- Paleontology
This dino’s fossil claw suggests it snatched eggs, not insects
A 67-million-year-old claw fossil reveals a new dinosaur species that may have used its hand spikes to snatch and pierce eggs.
- Plants
Plants packed close enough to touch are more resilient to stress
Signals transmitted via leaves can warn neighboring plants of stressful events, making the group collectively more resilient than plants in isolation.
