All Stories
- Paleontology
An ancient bird found encased in amber had a bizarrely long toe
A 99-million-year-old fossil holds a bird with an oddly long toe, which might have helped the critter hook hard-to-reach dinners.
- Planetary Science
Hayabusa2 may have just snagged bits of asteroid Ryugu’s insides
In its second sampling attempt, Hayabusa2 became the first spacecraft to try to pick up some of an asteroid’s guts.
- Science & Society
Many fictional moon voyages preceded the Apollo landing
Landing on the moon for real dramatically demonstrated the confluence of science with the moon’s cultural mystique.
- Neuroscience
Both fish and humans have REM-like sleep
Sleeping zebrafish have brain and body activity similar to snoozing mammals, suggesting that sleep evolved at least 450 million years ago.
- Anthropology
A Greek skull may belong to the oldest human found outside of Africa
Humans possibly reached southeastern Europe by 210,000 years ago.
- Health & Medicine
Toddlers tend to opt for the last thing in a set, so craft your questions carefully
Two-year-olds demonstrate a verbal quirk that makes their answers less reliable.
- Planetary Science
See how visualizations of the moon have changed over time
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, here’s a collection of images that show how the moon has been visualized over the ages.
- Astronomy
Moons that escape their planets could become ‘ploonets’
If giant planets in other star systems lose their moons, the freed objects could become “ploonets,” and current telescopes may be able to find them.
- Anthropology
Ancient humans used the moon as a calendar in the sky
Whether the moon was a timekeeper for early humans, as first argued during the Apollo missions, is still up for debate.
- Oceans
A mysterious coral disease is ravaging Caribbean reefs
Scientists are racing to learn what’s behind a disease that’s “annihilating” whole coral species in hopes of stopping it.
- Neuroscience
A 100-hour MRI scan captured the most detailed look yet at a whole human brain
Researchers report ultraprecise imaging of a postmortem human brain.
- Animals
Ground beetle genitals have the genetic ability to get strange. They don’t
A new look at the genetics of sex organs finds underpinnings of conflicts over genital size.
