CATEGORIES

Consolidating Dad

The dream machine makes me uncomfortable.

Are Non-Digital Toys Doomed?

ONCE UPON a time, toys didn’t whirr or flash. they didn’t connect to the cloud or unlock special content.

Guess What I'm Thinking

Telepathy May Transform From Parlor Trick to the Real Deal. 

Brain Chains

Will Actual Mind Melding Make the World Smarter—or Scarier? 

What's In A (Dog's) Name?

SOME SHELTERS ARE RETHINKING BREED LABELS.

The Motion Of The Heart

WILLIAM HARVEY’S RADICAL THEORY OF CIRCULATION

Should Blood Tests Be Part Of A Healthy Person's Routine?

IT’S A TYPICAL morning: you wake up, take a shower, brush your teeth, and then prick your arm with a tiny needle.

Do Bionic Limbs Give Athletes An Unfair Advantage?

MARKUS REHM can leap much farther than the length of your family car. He’s a world champion long jumper. But he only has one leg. He wears a device called a prosthesis in place of his missing leg. You’d think that a missing leg would cause problems—especially for an athlete. But the prosthesis Rehm wears is specially designed to propel him forward. It’s a lightweight, curved metal blade. Some call Rehm “Blade Jumper.”

Hall Of Mirrors

Hall Of Mirrors

Lending A Hairy Hand

Chimpanzees are similar to humans, even when it comes to helping.

Water Fleas, Transform!

Small Shape-shifters Prepare for Attack.

Searching for Source of Life

Imagine yourself inside a Mini Cooper–sized rocket. Try not to bump into either of the two other crewmembers or any of the computers, buttons, and joysticks that will help steer your course.

Hidden Treasures, Lasting Costs

Test the power of water erosion.

Nathalie Miebach - Data Artist

“Artists can help us look at data differently and find alternative ways of thinking about it.”

Carrie C. Wall

Marine Scientist, Ocean Data Expert, Little Sister.

Warm Temperatures Turn Sea Turtles Female

Your genes determined whether you were born with a male or female body. But that’s not true for all animals. In sea turtles, like many other reptiles, being male or female depends on temperature.

A Matter Of Taste

The Tongue, the Nose, and the Brain All Work Together to Notice Flavors.

Uma Parasar Food Chemist

Do you ever wonder what makes some packaged foods and drinks taste great? Well, a chemist such as Uma Parasar might be the one to thank. Parasar is a senior research fellow with the research and development flavors team at International Flavors and Fragrances, Inc. (IFF). You can taste flavors her lab has created in all kinds of things—juices, yogurts, candy, potato chips, and chocolate. Specifically, as a toxicologist, Parasar is responsible for making sure the flavors her company makes are safe to eat and drink.

The Air Around Us

What’s in air—and why it matters.

Mathemagician!

Try these arithmetic tricks

Carolyn Bertozzi

Chemist and Medical Researcher.

Eyewire

Mapping brain cells is a challenge. So is designing a game that helps you do it.

When Good Science Goes Bad

If you raise your hand in class, will the teacher notice right away? Do you spend most of your class time learning or is too much other stuff going on all around? Does your teacher know your strengths and how they differ from the kid’s next to you? Your answers to these questions depend partly on the number of students in your class.

Flawed Genius

Steve Jobs' Impressive, Messy Career

Art Alert! The Case Of The Masterpiece That Wasn't

Han van Meegeren was a painter with a problem. He tried to sell artwork under his own name, but the critics of the 1920s weren’t keen on it. They were excited by newer, abstract forms of art, like cubism or surrealism. Van Meegeren, on the other hand, painted in a very traditional, realistic style.

Does Your Dog Need A Fitbit?

HOW MANY steps did you take today? If you wear a fitness tracking device such as a Fitbit, you know the answer. Fitness trackers help people set goals for physical activity. Reaching those goals helps them lose weight and stay healthy.

The Wild Science of Water Bears

Huge Discoveries Could Come From Tiny Tardigrades.

Fish in the Desert

Desert living is challenging for any creature, but what if your home was just one small pool of water? That’s the predicament of a fish—yes, a fish—that lives in the Mojave Desert.

Healing Waters

Manufacturers of structured water, also called “living water,” promise their product will recharge and detoxify your body.

Would You Drink Toilet Water?

ASTRONAUTS DRINK their own pee—after it’s been cleaned. So do people in some parts of California and Australia.