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Articles

The Gift Card Was Invented by Blockbuster in 1994

So the next time you buy a little piece of plastic with money on it for someone, you can thank Blockbuster

A new species of tapir, a herbivorous mammal, was discovered in the Amazon earlier this month.

A Recap of Our Five Favorite New Species of 2013

An owl, a cat, a dolphin, and of course the olinguito, are among this year’s biggest new species finds

Campylaspis costata, a species of crawfish recently discovered in Norway.

Look Closely, And You Can Find New Species—Even in Well-Explored Countries Like Norway

Determination is all that’s needed to discover new species

What Does Sociology Teach Us About Gift Giving?

Not only do gifts make or break relationships, they also tell scientists about society as a whole. No pressure.

A side-by-side comparison of cities’ sizes.

Everything’s Bigger in America, Especially Urban Sprawl

Eight other cities (total population: 100 million) fit into the footprint of Atlanta (population: 5 million)

This 200 Million-Year-Old Plant Species Helps Explain the Origin of All Flowers

Of the 300,000 flowering plants known today, Amborella is the only one that directly traces back to the common ancestor of them all

Patience Wright, c. 1782. Artist unknown.

The Madame Tussaud of the American Colonies Was a Founding Fathers Stalker

Patience Wright remained independence-minded in her correspondence with Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson

The Best of the British Medical Journal’s Goofy Christmas Papers

This year, for example, we learned about just how much James Bond actually drank. Last year we learned just why Rudolph’s nose was red

The Terrible Twos Are Actually the Worst

Toddlers are brats. It’s science

Comprised of more than 500,000 Lego pieces, this yellow-and-black hot rod can be driven at speeds of up to 17 mph.

Watch This Air-Powered Lego Car Cruise Down A Street

A Lego-maniac builds a life-sized working car made from more than 500,000 plastic toy pieces

A 900 year-old skull from Peru, whose former owner underwent brain surgery.

1,000 Years Ago, Patients Survived Brain Surgery, But They Had To Live With Huge Holes in Their Heads

The practice finally came to an end when the Spanish arrived in the 16th century and decided to make it illegal

The London Zoo’s Brian Zimmerman looks for a cichlid in Madagascar.

Doomed Species May Be Saved—A Global Search Locates a Female

With this little fish facing down extinction, a global hunt turned up a few remaining wild individuals

How the Swine Flu Vaccine Provides Insight Into Narcolepsy

In 2009, doctors noticed that children who got a particular strain of swine flu vaccine were suddenly much more likely to develop narcolepsy

Sketchy Skype Calls Actually Do Hurt Your Emotional Connection

“If one wanted to go to less trouble in undermining the world’s unity, one could start with a dodgy internet connection obstructing conversational flow”

Emma Thompson captures the flinty Mrs. Travers brilliantly, from her tightly-curled hair to the “No No No” mantra she barks endlessly at the Disney creative team.

How Did P.L. Travers, the Prickly Author of Mary Poppins, Really Fare Against Walt Disney?

Historian Amy Henderson searches for the spoonfuls of sugar-coated truth in the new film, “Saving Mr. Banks”

This Sea Slug Was Just Named After a Game of Thrones Character

There’s a Stephen Colbert beetle, a Lady Gaga genus of plant, and a Beyonce bee. And now, a Game of Thrones slug

It’s a Myth: There’s No Evidence That Coffee Stunts Kids’ Growth

The long-held misconception can be traced to claims made in advertisements for Postum, an early 1900s coffee alternative

Automatic is designed to collect and relay vitals such as the distance, duration and fuel costs for each trip.

Tech Watch

This Device Can Save You Money On Gas (And Maybe Even Your Life)

The Automatic Smart Driving Assistant is designed to warn drivers when they accelerate too quickly and make other fuel-costly choices

Can You Make Medical Devices Out of LEGOs?

Using ribbons, buttons, LEGOs and 3D printing, this scientist is trying to make it easier and cheaper for doctors and nurses to create medical devices

A Game Designer Thinks He Can Improve on Chess’ 1,500-Year-Old Rules

A young MIT-grad and game designer named David Sirlin says he’s come up with something better than the timeless board game

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