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Science

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

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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

The Andromeda Galaxy

Think Big

What Does the Future of the Universe Hold?

The collision of our galaxy with the Andromeda galaxy is billions of years away, but it’s never too early to wonder what will happen

Santa could make his home on floating sea ice, but the Arctic may be ice free as early as 2016, according to the U.S. Navy.

Six Ways Climate Change Is Waging War on Christmas

If Santa really lived at the North Pole, he would have drowned long ago—his icy abode is slowly melting

Stained transverse section of a lily flower bud. Darkfield illumination, stitched images.

Art Meets Science

The Startling Beauty of the Microscopic

Olympus BioScapes announces ten winners of their 2013 Digital Image Competition, which honors some of the best images taken through a microscope

Charles "Pete" Conrad stands with the United States flag on the lunar surface on November 19, 1969.

The Moon Belongs to No One, but What About Its Artifacts?

Experts call on spacefaring nations to protect lunar landing sites, not to mention Neil Armstrong’s footprints

Using interpretive dance, Cedric Tan, a biologist at the University of Oxford, explains his PhD thesis, "Sperm competition between brothers and female choice.

Art Meets Science

This is What Happens When You Ask Scientists to Explain Their PhDs in Dance

Watch this year’s winners of the “Dance Your Ph.D” contest animate sperm competition, cell division and sleep deprivation

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These Carnivorous Plants Glow Under Ultraviolet Light to Attract Prey

Their florescent blue glow lures ants to their death. Mask it, and the plants barely catch any

This flashy male chameleon is deadly beautiful to his competitors.

The More Rainbow Bright a Chameleon, the Greater His Battle Prowess

Male chameleons quickest on the color-changing draw and sporting the brightest palette tend beat out duller competitors

A closeup of one of the rocks, with a patch of dust brushed away by Curiosity's instruments, that provides evidence of an ancient lake.

Curiosity Found Evidence of An Ancient Freshwater Lake on Mars

Drilling into Martian rock revealed that it formed at the bottom of a calm lake that may have had the right conditions for sustaining life

The Northern Hemisphere's mid-latitudes have experienced many heat waves in recent years, such as one that fueled Rocky Mountain wildfires in summer 2012. Warmer-than-normal temperatures appear red in this NASA image of North America on June 28, 2012.

Summer Heat Waves May Be Linked To Sea Ice Loss

As ice melts, the jet stream gets stuck in the north, causing warm weather to linger in the south—but the reason why this occurs remains unknown

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