Biology
Want to Be Healthy? Manage Your Microbes Like a Wildlife Park
Our bodies are slurries of living microbial organisms, without which we’d be rendered ill or worse. Science is only now on the cusp of unraveling the roles that only a handful of our 100 trillion microbes play to keep our bodily systems running smoothly. Carl Zimmer explains the emerging field of medical ecology in the [...]
June 20, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Unraveling the Mysteries of the Ocean Sunfish
Marine biologist Tierney Thys and researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium are learning more about one of the largest jellyfish eaters in the sea
June 07, 2012 |
By Megan Gambino
Better Feet Through Radiation: The Era of the Fluoroscope
In the 1940s and 50s, shoe stores were dangerous places. At the center of the shopping experience was the shoe-fitting fluoroscope—a pseudoscientific machine that became a token of mid-century marketing deception.
April 04, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
The Forest Of The Future
An ambitious project in Singapore will boast 18 supertrees, climbing up to 160 feet tall
April 2012 |
By Mark Strauss
The Way of the Wolverine
After all but disappearing, the mammals are again being sighted in Washington's Cascade Range
January 2012 |
By Eric Wagner
The Sperm Whale's Deadly Call
Scientists have discovered that the massive mammal uses elaborate buzzes, clicks and squeaks that spell doom for the animal's prey
December 2011 |
By Eric Wagner
Swimming With Whale Sharks
Wildlife researchers and tourists are heading to a tiny Mexican village to learn about the mystery of the largest fish in the sea
June 2011 |
By Juliet Eilperin
The Mystery of the Singing Mice
A scientist has discovered that high-pitched sounds made by the small rodents could actually be melodious songs
May 2011 |
By Rob Dunn
Tom Mirenda on Orchids
The Natural History Museum's orchid expert talks about the beloved flowers
April 2011 |
By Megan Gambino
Nothing Can Stop the Zebra
A 150-mile fence in the Kalahari Desert appeared to threaten Africa's zebras, but now researchers can breathe a sigh of relief
March 2011 |
By Robyn Keene-Young
The Secrets Behind Your Flowers
Chances are the bouquet you're about to buy came from Colombia. What's behind the blooms?
February 2011 |
By John McQuaid
Resurrecting the Czar
In Russia, the recent discovery of the remains of the two missing Romanov children has pitted science against the church
November 2010 |
By Joshua Hammer
A Close Encounter With the Rarest Bird
Newfound negatives provide fresh views of the young ivory-billed woodpecker
September 2010 |
By Stephen Lyn Bales
A Crude Awakening in the Gulf of Mexico
Scientists are just beginning to grasp how profoundly oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill has devastated the region
September 2010 |
By Michelle Nijhuis
Thinking Like a Chimpanzee
Tetsuro Matsuzawa has spent 30 years studying our closest primate relative to better understand the human mind
September 2010 |
By Jon Cohen
Meet the New Species
From old-world primates to patch-nosed salamanders, new creatures are being discovered every day
August 2010 |
By Richard Conniff
The Story of Bartram's Garden
Outside of Philadelphia, America's first botanical garden once supplied seeds to Founding Fathers and continues to inspire plant-lovers today
April 13, 2010 |
By Robin T. Reid
Q and A: Jane Lubchenco
The marine ecologist and administrator of NOAA discusses restoring the bounty of the world's oceans
April 2010 |
By Erica R. Hendry
The Great British Tea Heist
Botanist Robert Fortune traveled to China and stole trade secrets of the tea industry, discovering a fraud in the process
March 09, 2010 |
By Sarah Rose
How Sleepy Are Sloths and Other Lessons Learned
Smithsonian scientists use radio technology to track animals in an island jungle in the middle of the Panama Canal
February 03, 2010 |
By Megan Gambino
