All Stories

Animals

As the tropics warm, some birds are shrinking

Migratory birds are getting smaller as temperatures climb, studies had showed. New evidence shows dozens of tropical, nonmigratory species are, too.

Climate

Can scientists develop an icy sanctuary for Arctic life?

The final refuge for summer sea ice may also protect the creatures that depend on it. Saving it is an ambitious goal with many hurdles.

Animals

Let’s learn about chimpanzees and bonobos

Humankind’s closest cousins in the animal kingdom may look similar, but in terms of behavior, they’re polar opposites.

Materials Science

This glitter gets its color from plants, not a synthetic plastic

In the new material, tiny arrangements of cellulose reflect light in specific ways to create vibrant hues in an environmentally friendly glitter.

Life

Scientists Say: Adaptation

This word refers to a feature of a living thing that helps it better survive in its environment — or the process of that feature evolving in a population.

Fossils

‘Penis worms’ could have been the original hermits

These soft-bodied critters lived in abandoned shells about 500 million years ago, a new study suggests.

Life

From icebergs to smoke, forecasting where dangers will drift

Smoke drifts. Fish eggs float downstream. Where such drifting things end up may seem a mystery. But research can predict where they’ll end up.

Animals

A panda stands out at the zoo but blends in the wild

A panda may stand out among bamboo at the zoo, but in the wild, its black-and-white coloring camouflages it from predators. Learn more with this web comic.

Humans

Snap! High-speed video captures the physics of snapping fingers

Inspired by the infamous snap of the Avengers rival Thanos, scientists set out to investigate the physics behind finger-snapping.

Space

Astronomers may have found first known planet in another galaxy

The spiral-shaped Whirlpool galaxy may be home to the first planet spotted outside our own Milky Way galaxy.

Environment

A new way to make plastics could keep them from littering the seas

Borrowing from genetics, scientists are creating plastics that will degrade. They can even choose how quickly these materials break down.

Earth

Scientists Say: Savanna

Savannas exist where there is more rainfall than in a desert, but less than in a forest.