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Young People Mistrust Government So Much They Aren’t Running for Office

The advancing age of Congress isn’t just due to reelection rates

A rover developed by Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation and considered for use in the early 1970s, not a moon race competitor

Cool Finds

Forget the Race to the Moon. These Rovers Will Race on the Moon.

It’s going to be a pretty slow race, however

Screen shot of video "Global ship traffic seen from space - FleetMon Satellite AIS and FleetMon Explorer"

Cool Finds

See Shipping Traffic Move Through Straits Around the World

A visualization shows a week’s worth of vessel movement

Cool Finds

Meet the Man Who Can Taste Words

For some, taste mixes with other sense—a form of synesthesia that isn’t as common as experiencing the colors of words

Meltwater from the Brady Glacier (shown in the foreground) is seen in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. The water in the foreground in the southwest (bottom left) corner of the image is the Gulf of Alaska.

New Research

Alaska’s Freshwater Is Draining Into the Sea at an Astounding Rate

Satellite data shows that snow and glacial melt are partially to blame for an annual freshwater output 1.5 times that of Mississippi River

Trending Today

Amsterdam Is Out of Bike Parking

The city will create 40,000 new bike parking spaces by 2030

New Research

This Mysterious Plant Doesn’t Have Time for Junk DNA

Utricularia gibba has less DNA, but more genes

The tropical fire ant is the first known ant to travel the world by sea.

New Research

How 16th Century Trade Made Fire Ants an Early Global Invader

By inadvertently stowing away in Spanish ships, one pesky little insect quickly spread throughout much of the world

A man walks on a tight rope in the remote mountain village of Tsovkra-1.

Cool Finds

The Russian Village Entirely Populated by Tightrope Walkers

The circus-skill tradition goes back so far in tiny Tsovkra-1 that no one knows quite how or why it started—but it may end before long

Mexico City's growth is similar in some ways to that of the 15th century Aztec capital that once stood there.

New Research

Modern Cities Grow the Same Way As Ancient Ones

Scientists find that despite time and location, the productivity of settlements grows faster than their populations

Animal furs on display at Grand Portage National Monument

New Research

The 18th Century Fur Trade Polluted Lake Superior’s Shore With Mercury That’s Never Gone Away

The area’s elevated mercury levels aren’t healthy for fish, birds or humans

The blue whale is the biggest animal on the planet - and would have massively outsized the ocean's largest species 500 million years ago.

New Research

The World’s Sea Creatures Have Gotten Bigger

A new study reveals evolution in the ocean appears to favor larger animals

New Research

Save the Birds By Embarrassing Your Cat

Outfitting cats in colorful collars may be one key to preventing them from effectively preying on birds and other small animals

Cool Finds

Found: One Lost Sherlock Holmes Story

It was in the attic, my dear Watson

Trending Today

See the Winter of Our Discontent…From Space

NASA photo of the eastern United States confirms it’s really, really cold out there

Jackie Kennedy Onassis, New York Harbor in 1976

Cool Finds

For the Kennedys’ Virginia Home, Jackie Had Ideas About Every Detail, Down to the Guest Room Ashtrays

She drew inspiration from French magazines and colors from Colonial America

A 19th century engraving of King John signing the Magna Carta

Cool Finds

Legend Says the Ankerwycke Yew Witnessed the Magna Carta’s Signing

The tree on the bank of the River Thames may be 2,000 years old

New Research

Neanderthals Divvied Up Chores by Sex

New research on Neanderthal teeth shows differing gender roles

Trending Today

Should You Speculate in Flower Bulbs?

Move over, real estate—there’s a new bubble in snowdrop bulbs

A lithograph depicting an ancient Egyptian physician treating a patient for lockjaw. In the village of Deir el-Medina, this man may have still been paid while missing work.

Cool Finds

Some Ancient Egyptians Had State-Sponsored Healthcare

Craftsmen who built royal tombs enjoyed sick days, designated physicians and rationed medicine—all paid by the state

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