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Surprising Science

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Today Is Your Last Chance This Lifetime to See Venus Pass in Front of the Sun

Venus’ next transit of the sun isn’t until 2117—so read about what to watch for and make sure to look to the skies

The 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption, one of the largest in recent history, is dwarfed by the scale of supervolcano eruptions

Can Supervolcanoes Erupt More Suddenly Than We Think?

Enormous magma reserves may sit quietly for just thousands or even hundreds of years

The MinION device might sequence your entire genome over the course of hours and plug into your computer.

Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

Quick and Cheap DNA Sequencing On the Horizon?

A new technique reads DNA base by base by threading it through a tiny pore

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New Coating Gets Ketchup Out Lickety-Split

A substance developed at MIT sends viscous condiments pouring out of bottles with ease

Will extraterrestrial caves house unusual life forms, as the Katafiki Cave in Greece does?

What Will We Find in Extraterrestrial Caves?

Scientists hope to look for extraterrestrial life in a new place: recently discovered caves in places like the moon, Mars and Titan

The October 3, 2005 annular eclipse, as seen from Spain

The ‘Ring of Fire’ Eclipse You Might See Sunday

For the first time in 18 years, a solar eclipse will be visible in the continental United States

A new study indicates 3.6 percent of American adults are prone to sleepwalking, but scientists still don't understand what causes the phenomenon.

The Science of Sleepwalking

A new study indicates that a surprisingly high number of us are prone to sleepwalking. Should you wake a sleepwalker?

A slime mold is used to design an efficient U.S. interstate system.

If the Interstate System Were Designed by a Slime Mold

How a brainless, single-celled organism created a startlingly efficient route map for U.S. highways

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Picture of the Week: Stephen Hawking in Zero Gravity

The renowned physicist enjoyed the sensation of weightlessness while 24,000 feet over the Atlantic

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What Really Sparked the Hindenburg Disaster?

Seventy-five years later, opinions still vary on what caused the airship to explode so suddenly

This modern-day assassin bug stacks dead ant bodies on its back to confuse predators.

This Insect Uses Its Victims’ Carcasses As Camouflage

Acanthaspis petax, a type of assassin bug, stacks dead ant bodies on its back to confuse predators

Scientists calculated how to make a force field big enough to fit the Millennium Falcon.

May the Fourth Be With You: The Science of the Millennium Falcon

On Star Wars day, we take a look at the science behind the series’ most popular spacecraft and the force fields it flies through

The supermoon of March 2011, rising behind the Lincoln Memorial In Washington, DC

The Biggest Supermoon in Years is Coming Saturday Night

The moon’s closest approach to earth will coincide with a perfectly full moon

An Aguilla Bank skink, one of the 24 new species discovered

24 New Lizard Species Discovered, Half Close to Extinction

The discoverer of the world’s (then) smallest frog, snake and lizard does it again with new species of Caribbean skinks

The rare all-white orca whale was spotted swimming with its pod.

Rare Sighting of All-White Orca Whale

Earlier this week, photos were released of an extremely rare killer whale off the eastern coast of Russia

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The Secret Lives of Medieval Books

A new method reveals which pages of ancient religious texts were most frequently used—and which prayers perpetually put readers to sleep

The Voyagers are still within the heliosheath, the outer layer of the solar system

Voyager Probes Not Out of the Solar System Just Yet

New data show that nearly 35 years after their launches, NASA’s Voyager probes are now at the outermost reaches of the solar system

Monday's solar eruption at its peak moment

Picture of the Week: A Spectacular Solar Eruption

Earlier this week, a NASA telescope captured one of the most stunning solar flares in years

A study indicates that global yields of crops such as wheat and corn may already be affected by climate change.

10 Things We’ve Learned About the Earth Since Last Earth Day

We recap the most surprising, awe-inspiring and alarming things that we have learned about the Earth and the environment since last year’s holiday

Jorge Cham is the creator of Piled Higher and Deeper, one of many popular science-themed web comics

Science Comics Rule the Web

Where do Schrödinger’s cat and lolcats collide? On the science-themed web comics that appeal to our inner nerd and inner child at the same time

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