Science

All the Extremely Absurd Ways People Are Fighting Zika at the Rio Olympics

Donning facial masks, wearing Zika-proof uniforms and freezing sperm: Does any of this stuff actually work?

July 26, 2016

Forced Closer to Humans, Crocodiles Face Their Greatest Existential Threat

These armored reptiles have long been considered indestructible, but new threats are shifting the equation

July 26, 2016

How Miraculous Microbes Help Us Evolve Better, Faster, Stronger

Invisible yet crucial, our microbial partners add a gene-swapping plot twist to evolutionary theory

July 26, 2016

Art Meets Science

Can the Art of Divination Help People Cope With Climate Anxiety?

A Brooklyn-based artist strives to create emotional connections with the looming threat of climate change.

July 25, 2016

Journey to the Center of Earth

The Tiny World of Glacier Microbes Has an Outsized Impact on Global Climate

Microbes living on glaciers collectively cover an area the size of New Hampshire—and they could have a big influence on global climate

July 25, 2016

Metaphorically Speaking, Your Nervous System is a Dictatorship

Except when it’s an oligarchy. Or a democracy. Or all three.

July 22, 2016

Age of Humans

Podcast: Our Food, Our Selves

Food is a focal point for understanding broader environmental problems. In this podcast, we learn how food buyers are influenced in surprising ways.

July 22, 2016

New Research

Forget Bees: This Bird Has the Sweetest Deal With Honey-Seeking Humans

The effectiveness of the honeyguide call sheds light on why this golden relationship has stuck around so long

July 21, 2016

Chew on This: Powerful Jaws Fueled a Jurassic Herbivore Boom

Teeth, not flowers, might be the key to the duckbills’ success

July 21, 2016

Age of Humans

The Enduring Climate Legacy of Mauna Loa

Sixty years after a trailblazing climate scientist scaled its heights, the Hawaii-based observatory remains essential

July 20, 2016

How Parasites Became So Popular

A new study finds that parasitism evolved independently 223 times. But that number is actually surprisingly low

July 20, 2016

Were Ants the World’s First Farmers?

A new study shows that a group of ants have been conducting a subsistence type of farming since shortly after the dinosaurs died out

July 20, 2016

There’s No Wrong Way to Make a Tadpole (or Froglet)

Marsupial frogs, “vomit frogs” and foam-spewers reveal the glorious range of frog baby-making techniques

July 18, 2016

Why Chemicals in the U.S. Are Still “Innocent Until Proven Guilty”

A new chemical bill makes major strides, but doesn’t fix the root problem

July 18, 2016

American South

Big Boom: The Best Places to See Meteorite Impact Craters

Ancient impacts changed landscapes and perhaps even the course of evolution—here’s where to see the coolest craters this summer

July 18, 2016

Move Over, Madagascar: This Island Has the World’s Greatest Concentration of Unique Mammals

The majority of them are found nowhere else on Earth, making Luzon a biological treasure trove

July 15, 2016

Journey to the Center of Earth

Dinosaurs Literally Reshaped The Planet

Dinos didn’t just leave behind footprints and fossil bones—they also changed the landscapes in which they lived

July 15, 2016

Defying Stereotypes, Ducklings Are as Clever as They Are Cute

Newborn ducks understand abstract concepts such as sameness and difference with no training whatsoever

July 14, 2016