All Stories
- Animals
Bright yellow spots help some orb weaver spiders lure their next meal
Experiments with cardboard arachnids suggest that orb weaver spiders have evolved yellow colorations on their undersides to attract bees and moths.
- Chemistry
Evaporating mixtures of two liquids create hypnotic designs
Through the magic of surface tension, mixtures of two liquids form fingerlike protrusions and other patterns as droplets evaporate.
- Space
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin revealed stars’ composition and broke gender barriers
The book ‘What Stars Are Made Of’ celebrates the life of astronomer Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin.
- Health & Medicine
What the new phase of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. means for you
U.S. health experts warn there are probably many undetected COVID-19 cases already here, raising chances the disease will soon be widespread.
- Physics
Listening to soap bubbles pop reveals the physics behind the bursts
The quiet, high-pitched sound made by a popping soap bubble reveals the forces that occur during the bubble’s demise.
- Space
A black hole eruption marks the most powerful explosion ever spotted
Hundreds of millions of years ago, a black hole blasted out roughly 100 billion times as much energy as the sun is expected to emit in its lifetime.
- Animals
Glowing frogs and salamanders may be surprisingly common
A widespread ability to glow in striking greens, yellows and oranges could make amphibians easier to track down in the wild.
- Planetary Science
An ancient magma ocean may have once driven Earth’s magnetic field
Computer simulations of molten silicate under extreme temperatures and pressures may have just filled in a gap in the history of Earth’s magnetism.
- Space
50 years ago, scientists were studying why the sun’s corona is so hot
In 1970, scientists were hoping to learn why the sun’s corona is so hot during an eclipse. Fifty years later, the corona’s magnetic field may hold some answers.
- Planetary Science
China’s moon rover revealed what lies beneath the lunar farside
China’s Yutu-2 rover found layers of fine sand and coarse gravel under the surface of the moon’s farside.
- Humans
Evolving an arch across the foot’s width helped hominids walk upright
The arch across the foot evolved at least 3.4 million years ago, possibly before the lengthwise arch. Both arches help humans to walk and run.
- Climate
Ordering from a local store can curb online shopping’s CO₂ emissions
Online shopping isn’t necessarily better for the environment than going to the store in person, a new study finds.
