All Stories
- Animals
‘Phallacy’ deflates myths about the penises of the animal kingdom
By touring nature’s many penises, Phallacy author Emily Willingham puts the human organ in its place.
- Health & Medicine
COVID-19’s death rate in the U.S. could spike as new cases soar
Effective treatments are one possible reason the mortality rate from COVID-19 fell over the summer. Rising cases could reverse the trend.
- Health & Medicine
How COVID-19 may trigger dangerous blood clots
Clots may stem from net-casting immune cells that, instead of fighting a coronavirus infection, capture red blood cells and platelets.
- Space
Jupiter may host atmospheric ‘sprites’ or ‘elves’ never seen beyond Earth
For the first time, NASA’s Juno spacecraft may have spied the bright, superfast light show on another world.
- Psychology
‘Deaths of despair’ are rising. It’s time to define despair
A sense of defeat, not mental ailments, may be derailing the lives of less-educated people in the United States.
- Animals
How frigid lizards falling from trees revealed the reptiles’ growing cold tolerance
Some Florida lizards’ ability to handle temperatures down to 5.5° C may provide clues to how they might deal with the extremes of climate change.
- Health & Medicine
How two immune system chemicals may trigger COVID-19’s deadly cytokine storms
A study in mice hints at drugs that could be helpful in treating severe coronavirus infections.
- Anthropology
These human nerve cell tendrils turned to glass nearly 2,000 years ago
Part of a young man’s brain was preserved in A.D. 79 by hot ash from Mount Vesuvius’ eruption.
- Anthropology
The first Denisovan DNA outside Siberia unveils a long stint on the roof of the world
Genetic evidence puts Denisovans, humankind’s now-extinct cousins, on the Tibetan Plateau from 100,000 to at least 60,000 years ago.
- Life
Ogre-faced spiders catch insects out of the air using sound instead of sight
A new study finds that ogre-faced spiders can hear a surprisingly wide range of sounds.
- Animals
How octopuses ‘taste’ things by touching
Octopus arms are dotted with cells that can "taste" by touch, which might enable arms to explore the seafloor without input from the brain.
- Physics
LIGO and Virgo’s gravitational wave tally more than quadrupled in six months
Scientists report 39 sets of spacetime ripples from just half a year of data.
