CATEGORIES

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.

Packing Spheres in a Thousand Dimensions

Head-in-the-clouds math has surprisingly useful results.

Denise Herzing  Marine Mammal Behavioral Biologist

For more than 30 years, Denise Herzing has observed Atlantic spotted dolphins in their natural habitat, the waters near the Bahamas. She is interested in developing new ways for human to communicate with wild dolphins.

Say What, Horse?

How We’re Starting to Hear What Horses Have to Say  

Science Wants You

Volunteer, make real discoveries, and have a whole lot of fun.

Don't Cry Over Spoiled Milk

Make an ancient food with microbes.

Turning Tables

A complex proof leads to a simple fix.

Doctor Robot-O

WILL THE DOCTORS AND NURSES OF THE FUTURE BE LEARNING MACHINES?

Ready, Set, Eclipse!

An observer’s guide to the August 2017 eclipse.

Marla Geha - Astronomer

Marla Geha works at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

There She Blows!

Imagine a frozen, icy world where huge geysers shoot water vapor up higher than the tallest mountains on Earth.

So Long, Saturn

Cassini’s Marvelous Mission Is Coming to an End.

The Cassini Gallery

The Cassini spacecraft, seen above in an artist’s concept, was named after a French-Italian astronomer.