All Stories

  1. Physics

    Weirdly, mayo can help study conditions ripe for nuclear fusion 

    Yes, mayo. The texture of the sandwich spread is perfect for mimicking what a fusion fuel capsule goes through when blasted with lasers.

    By Emily Conover
  2. Animals

    A springtail’s spring-loaded backflip is fast — really fast

    Globular springtails can seem to vanish as they spin backwards at rates of up to 368 rotations per second! So don’t blink.

    By Jonathan Lambert
  3. Space

    Scientists Say: Campfire

    These miniature solar flares could help solve a big mystery about our sun.

    By Maria Temming
  4. Earth

    Surprise! The jet stream can trigger cloud formation

    Most cloud-seeding particles may come from a newly discovered mechanism — stratospheric intrusion.

    By Carolyn Gramling
  5. Animals

    Chimps and bonobos recognize familiar faces even after decades apart

    Chimpanzees and bonobos may boast the longest social memory of any animal besides humans.

    By Maria Temming and JoAnna Wendel
  6. Earth

    Meet the sneaky and surprisingly dangerous squall-line tornado

    These destructive, radar-dodging twisters often form at night. Emerging data from the U.S. Southeast might soon make forecasting the tornadoes possible.

    By Nikk Ogasa
  7. Animals

    This biologist tracks seadragons, with help from the public

    Nerida Wilson uses artificial intelligence to identify seadragons in photos taken by citizen scientists.

    By Aaron Tremper
  8. Climate

    Let’s learn about how much climate change is to blame for extreme weather

    Scientists can find out whether a natural disaster was more frequent or severe due to human-caused climate change. Here’s how.

    By Maria Temming
  9. Health & Medicine

    Scientists Say: THC

    The active chemical in marijuana might have some medicinal value. But studies point to THC's potential risks, especially for teens.

    By Katie Grace Carpenter
  10. Planets

    Analyze This: Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is shrinking

    If the windstorm keeps dwindling, the Great Red Spot could someday disappear — like an earlier spot observed in the 1600s.

    By Carolyn Wilke
  11. Health & Medicine

    Skin appears to be no barrier for some common ‘forever’ chemicals

    These PFAS, which have been linked to health problems, show up in many products that we touch every day — including clothes and food packaging.

    By Abdullahi Tsanni
  12. Animals

    Parrots may offer clues to how our intelligence evolved

    Studies of the brainy birds’ abilities to use tools, solve puzzles, speak words and more may teach us about how our species got our smarts.

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
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