Earthquake lights seen Tagish Lake, in the Yukon Territory, in 1972. Large orbs are visible in the foreground, while smaller ones (highlighted by arrows) are seen higher up.

Why Do Lights Sometimes Appear in the Sky During An Earthquake?

Scientists have a new hypothesis to explain the mysterious phenomenon—one that could allow the lights to serve as warning for an impeding quake

A time capsule of life in the Eocene: Ailuravus, a three-foot-long, squirrel-like rodent

Evotourism ®

The Evolutionary Secrets Within the Messel Pit

An amazing abundance of fossils in a bygone lake in Germany hints at the debt humans owe to animals that died out 48 million years ago

Going the distance: Evolution mavens in the Quantock Hills of England walked for some 3.5 billion years.

Evotourism ®

Take a Hike on Britain’s Ancestor’s Trail and Travel Back 10,000 Years

On a wild hike inspired by famed evolutionist Richard Dawkins, every step promises a strange encounter with the origins of species

Bao Bao at 10 weeks. Scientists estimate that a giant panda ancestor split from the bear lineage 18 million years ago.

Get Up Close and Personal with Bao Bao in Amazing New Photos

Take an exclusive backstage tour of the National Zoo and meet Bao Bao, the newest giant panda star

At What Moment Do You Finally Become Yourself?

New psychological research considers whether you are ever really comfortable with your own taste

Your Complete Guide to the Science of Hangovers

Here’s what we know, what we don’t know, and how you can use this information to minimize your suffering

A tobacco hornworm caterpillar chowing down on a wild tobacco plant in the Great Basin Desert, Utah

Caterpillars Repel Predators With Second-Hand Nicotine Puffs

As far as spiders are concerned, caterpillars have a case of very bad breath

A black mangrove has taken root in this salt marsh in St. Augustine, Florida.

Fewer Freezes Let Florida’s Mangroves Move North

Climate change has extended the range in which mangroves can survive the winter, letting them take root farther north and invade salt marshes

Six Things We Learned About Our Changing Climate in 2013

Scientists are in agreement that human activities are altering our climate—and it’s an illusion that the pace of changes seems to have slowed down

Orbus chirurgia, a scorpion used for semi automated and remote surgery.

Art Meets Science

An Artist Imagines the Techno-Evolved Creatures of the Future

Vincent Fournier has seen the future of evolution, in which humans design animals for their own uses

None

The Coolest Science of 2013, in GIFs

This year, we saw dissolving electronics, flying meteors, gravity-defying chains and rotting pineapples

A screenshot of the first video of a giant squid in the wild.

The Top Five Ocean Stories of 2013

This year we’ve seen amazing footage of marine creatures, discovered how plastic works its way into the food chain, employed 3D printing to build new reefs

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Costa Rica on September 5, 2012, producing a strong shaking through much of the country.

Scientists Successfully Forecasted the Size and Location of an Earthquake

Well before Costa Rica shook in a magnitude 7.6 quake in September 2012, geoscientists forecasted that the region was due for a magnitude 7.7 to 7.8 quake

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

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

The Vast Majority of Raw Data From Old Scientific Studies May Now Be Missing

A new survey of 20-year-old studies shows that poor archives and inaccessible authors make 90 percent of raw data impossible to find

A golden eagle swoops for a rabbit.

Art Meets Science

Beautiful Anatomical Skeletons, Posed and Photographed As Sculptures

Photographer Patrick Gries transforms ordinary specimens, stripped of fur and flesh, into art that showcases motion, predation and evolution

Frozen seafood in the lab, ready for DNA testing.

The DNA Detectives That Reveal What Seafood You’re Really Eating

Genetic sequencing allows scientists to uncover increasingly prevalent seafood fraud

More Than Three Years Later, Oil From the Deepwater Horizon Persists in the Gulf

Continued testing has found evidence of oil in the water, sediments and marine animals of the Gulf

Cats have graced Asian households for millennia, as depicted in this 12th century print by Mao Yi.

Domestic Cats Enjoyed Village Life in China 5,300 Years Ago

Eight cat bones discovered in an archeological site in China provide a crucial link between domestic cats’ evolution from wildcats to pets

Page 244 of 456