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India’s northwestern boundary with neighboring Pakistan is so brightly lit that the thin orange line tracing its path can be seen from space.

How An Unholy Alliance of Unusual Weather and Scarce Coal Nuked India’s Power Grid

Power grids supplying both the northern and eastern parts of India went down, throwing 620 million people, or 8.9% of the world population into darkness

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Why You Shouldn’t Panic Over The Latest News About Bird Flu

New research reveals that the flu virus has mutated into a novel strain of influenza, which transfers not just from bird to seal, but from seal to seal

This crystal ball won’t help you.

Why Experts are Almost Always Wrong

No one, not even the experts, really knows what’s about to happen

Mycoplasma mycoides, 2011

Teaching Molecular Biology with Watercolors

Molecular biology professor David Goodsell is just as skilled with a microscope as with a paint brush

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We’re Biased By Our Body’s Dominant Side

A new study shows that right-handed and left-handed people make different choices

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Queen Elizabeth 1 Loved Live Action Role Playing

From the ancient Romans to the Tudor Queen, everyone likes dressing up and pretending to be something else

The Environmental Case Against Cheap Coffee

Bad news for coffee drinkers: It turns out that those cheap coffee pots found in offices are one of the biggest energy hogs in the modern workplace

This dog loves the laser beam, but it might wind up making him crazy.

How LOLCats and Laser Pointers Are Bad for Our Pets

The things we do to animals for the LOLs might not be as innocuous as they seem

The Gabarnmung cave paintings lie in southwestern Arnhem Land, in Australia’s Northern Territory.

Is This the Oldest Cave Art on the Planet?

Underneath a rock slab which rests on dozens of narrow stilts researchers have found the world’s oldest stone axe, and a vast collection of painted artwork

The fountains of Enceladus as seen by Cassini

If Humans Are Ever Going to See Alien Life, Here’s Where It Will Happen

Scientists are all atwitter over Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons and one of the most likely places in our solar system to harbor life

Who will take more of these bad boys home with them, China or the United States?

How China Will Beat the US in Olympic Medals

How to tell which countries will take home more bling, and why weight lifting matters

Lights, climate change, dams and mines–An increasing number of scientists believe humans are the primary geological force on the planet.

Anthropocene

How The Fukushima Exclusion Zone Shows Us What Comes After The Anthropocene

Images of the evacuated area around the Fukushima Daiichi power plant offer a glimpse at a world without humans

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A Brief History of Death By Subway in NYC

A few highlights of death on New York City’s subways over the years

New Retrofit Can Turn Any Car into A Hybrid

Shark Teeth Have Built-in Toothpaste

Sharks may have the healthiest teeth in the animal kingdom

A brown bear fishing salmon in Brooks River, Katmai National Park, Alaska

Live Bear Cam Shows Hot Bear on Salmon Action

A live webcam let’s you watch Alaskan brown bears hunt salmon during the fishes’ annual migration

Older Termites Blow Themselves Up to Protect Their Colony

After a lifetime of servitude to the colony, older termites sacrifice the only thing they have left: their lives

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Science Proves: Pop Music Has Actually Gotten Worse

Science confirms what you’ve always suspected: music these days is worse than it used to be

Is This the World’s Tiniest Car?

This super tiny car, designed only for cities, could help fill the holes in public transportation at city edges

Can you tell what this man is feeling?

Old People Aren’t Hiding Their Emotions, You Just Can’t Read Them Through Their Wrinkles

Wrinkles make it difficult for younger people to read the facial expressions of those older than them

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