Mikael Knip, a Finnish physician, speculates that developed nations are too clean for their own good.

The Unintended (and Deadly) Consequences of Living in the Industrialized World

Scientists believe dirt could explain why some of the wealthiest countries suffer from afflictions rarely seen in less-developed nations

Absolute zero, the temperature at which all atomic and molecular motion stops, is much colder than anything ever experienced by people here on earth.

Scientists Are Trying to Create a Temperature Below Absolute Zero

If you can’t break the laws of physics, work around them

Countries will begin vying for new shipping routes and untapped natural resources as the North Pole continues to melt.

When an Iceberg Melts, Who Owns the Riches Beneath the Ocean?

The promise of oil has heated up a global argument over the Arctic’s true borders

Outer space does have borders, but scientists are not yet sure exactly where they are.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

How Far Can Voyager I Go?

The spacecraft will run out of power around 2025, but where will it travel to first?

None

The Greening of the Arctic is Underway

As the climate changes, trees and shrubs are poised to take over tundra and alter the Arctic’s ecosystems

The gooey confections can be used to measure the speed of light and demonstrate relationships between the volume of a gas and its pressure and temperature.

Marshmallows: The Perfect Media for Demonstrating Principles of Physics

The gooey confections turn out to be a must-have for at-home science experiments

None

What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution

Photographer Thierry Cohen tries to reconnect city dwellers with nature through his mind-blowing composite images—now at New York City’s Danziger Gallery

Beneath the seafloor, there is an ecosystem of microbes living in the oceanic crust, independent of sunlight. Here, the seafloor of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica.

Microbes Buried Deep in Ocean Crust May Form World’s Largest Ecosystem

Far below the ocean floor, scientists have discovered a microbial community away from undersea vents, beyond the reach of the sun

Will going to class become quaint?

Free Online Courses Mean College Will Never Be the Same

They’re the biggest innovation in higher education in years, but are they a threat to small universities and community colleges?

An island of ice breaking away from Greenland’s Petermann Glacier (in the center of the photo) in the summer of 2010.

Greenland’s Glaciers Are Hemorrhaging Ice, Best Seen By Photos from Space

Satellites snap pictures of Greenland’s glaciers, which a new study shows are vanishing at an accelerated pace, helping to spike global sea levels

None

Sugar Cube-Sized Robotic Ants Mimic Real Foraging Behavior

Researchers use tiny robots to study how ants navigate a labyrinth of networks, from the nest to the food and back again

None

Research Shows That True Fame Lasts Longer Than 15 Minutes

Contrary to the cliché, an analysis of news articles over the years shows that celebrity has lasting power

The first-ever sequencing of the produce microbiome reveals that grapes, peaches and sprouts host the largest diversity of harmless bacteria.

A Survey of the 161 Bacterial Families That Live on Your Fruits and Veggies

The first-ever sequencing of the “produce microbiome” reveals that grapes, peaches and sprouts host the largest diversity of harmless bacteria

Landslides can be both sudden and devastating to people living in the shadows of mountains. This one, which slid in 2006 in the Philippine province of Southern Leyte, killed more than 1000 people.

Landslide “Quakes” Give Clues to the Location and Size of Debris Flows

Scientists can now quickly assess characteristics of a landslide soon after slopes fail, based on its seismic signature

None

The Otherworldly Calm of Wolfgang Laib’s Glowing Beeswax Room

A German contemporary artist creates a meditative space—lined with beeswax—at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.

None

Warning: Living Alone May Be Hazardous to Your Health

Being socially isolated increases your chance of death—but not because you’re feeling depressed over being lonely

None

Sea Monkeys, Ferns and Frozen Frogs: Nature’s Very Own Resurrecting Organisms

As Easter draws near, we celebrate creatures that seemingly die and then come back to life

Smartphones are changing our notion of acceptable behavior.

How Digital Devices Change the Rules of Etiquette

Should sending “Thank you” emails and leaving voice mails now be considered bad manners? Some think texting has made it so

Polar bear-brown bear hybrids like this pair at Germany’s Osnabrück Zoo are becoming more common as melting sea ice forces the two species to cross paths.

Brown Polar Bears, Beluga-Narwhals and Other Hybrids Brought to You by Climate Change

Animals with shrinking habitats are interbreeding, temporarily boosting populations but ultimately hurting species’ survival

None

Video: This Lizard-Inspired Robot Can Scamper Across Sand

It’s a product of the emerging field of terradynamics, which studies the movement of vehicles across shifting surfaces

Page 267 of 456