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Articles

Many Animals, Including the Platypus, Lost Their Stomachs

Not only did those animals toss their stomachs out with the evolutionary garbage, they burned the genetic instructions, too

This Device Lets People Video Chat With Their Pets

Who says you can’t Skype with your cat or dog? With PetChatz, owners alleviate separation anxiety and even give their furry friends a special treat

Guadalupe White Shark

Great White Sharks Are Being Killed Before They Can Become Truly Gigantic

Sharks aren’t shrinking, they’re just being hunted and inadvertently killed by fishing nets so often that they’re no longer living long enough to grow up

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Watch: The Air Force Band Turns the National Air and Space Museum Into a Concert Hall

This Group Knows You’ve Committed a Crime And Wants to Hear All About It

Have you ever committed a crime? Stop lying, you definitely have

One of the ancient human fossils found in Spain's La Sima de los Huesos.

Scientists Just Sequenced the DNA From A 400,000-Year-Old Early Human

The fossil, found in Spain, is mysteriously related to an ancient group of homonins called the Denisovans, previously found only in Siberia

What’s the Air Force’s Secretive Space Drone Been Doing in Orbit for the Past Year?

The Air Force’s experimental space drone has been in orbit for a year, and no one really knows why

Fingerbreaking

Breakdance Competitions Are Adding Fingerbreaking to Their Lineup

This is not a bad-cop interrogation method, but rather a newly recognized form of dance

Seafood alfredo: a delicious culinary sin

Why are Cheese and Seafood Supposedly a Bad Combo? It’s Delicious!

Don’t believe the stigma—fish and cheese can go together quite well.

Different visuals paint different pictures of the AIDS epidemic in America.

The Confusing and At-Times Counterproductive 1980s Response to the AIDS Epidemic

A new exhibit looks at the posters sent out by non-profits and the government in response to the spread of AIDS

Freezing fog is reflected in great patterns on this Kaibab Limestone at the Grand Canyon.

This Awesome Atmospheric Anomaly Filled the Grand Canyon With Fog

Visitors to Grand Canyon National Park in recent days were treated to a special sight as a rare atmospheric behavior filled the canyon

(A to L) 3D estimates of front views and lateral views rendered as point clouds overlaid with reflectivity data.

This Camera Capture Images in the Dark, Using Just a Few Particles of Light

The most obvious application for this camera is for spying and surveillance, but it may also be used for remote sensing or to study microscopic structures

Home deliveries are just one potential use of personal drones.

When Drones Get Personal

So we’ve seen how a drone can deliver a package, but can one become a buddy with a camera?

Dazzle camouflage distorts perception by pairing contrasting patterns.

Predators May Use a Bit of the Old Razzle Dazzle to Snag Prey

The bright colors and harsh angles of dazzle camouflage confounds locusts, suggesting that predators who sport the abstract patterns can hunt more easily

Silkworm pancakes. Yum!

Insect Farming Kit Lets You Raise Edible Bugs

The Tiny Farms setup comes with everything to cultivate one of the world’s most sustainable (and popular) sources of food

Baby Mice Can Inherit Fear of Certain Smells From Their Parents

But researchers are far from pinning down the mechanism by which this may be possible, or what specific roles epigenetics plays in human disease

Smaller Hands Need Smarter Designs for Smart Phones

No more thumb cramps or having to use your other fingers to press buttons!

No no no, Guurr, put the mammoth tusk over there, it helps balance the energy.

Neanderthals May Have Practiced the Ancient Art of Interior Design

Excavations showed that Neanderthals may have designed their homes with purpose

Image: William Zeitler

Benjamin Franklin Invented a Glass Harp

Here you can hear a man play the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies on the armonica - which looks a lot like a man massaging a stack of plastic cups

A friendly label, instead of a threatening warning, might cut down on the vandalization and theft of scientific instruments.

How Do You Protect Scientific Equipment From Vandals? With A Friendly Warning

A friendly label, instead of a threatening warning, might cut down on the vandalization and theft of scientific instruments

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