Physics
Explainer: Radiation and radioactive decay
Like clockwork, radioactive forms of some elements shed parts of themselves as they attempt to become nonradioactive.
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Cover Story
What’s the fun in fear? Science explores the appeal of scary movies
On its face, the appeal of horror doesn’t make much sense. But scientists are starting to uncover who’s most likely to enjoy scary films and why.
Explainer
Technically Fiction
Animals
Where does Godzilla get his atomic breath?
Some secrets of the kaiju’s atomic breath can be explained with creative applications of physics and biology.
Profile
Psychology
This scientist knows how to frighten you
Margee Kerr studies how and why people seek out frightening situations. She aims to use fear to help people lead happier and more empowered lives.
Features
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What’s the fun in fear? Science explores the appeal of scary movies
On its face, the appeal of horror doesn’t make much sense. But scientists are starting to uncover who’s most likely to enjoy scary films and why.
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Will the internet soon reach the one-third of people without it?
Access to the internet is a human right, yet much of the world can’t get online. New tech has to be affordable and usable to end this digital divide.
More Stories from the October 1, 2023 issue
- Planets
In a first, telescopes have caught a star eating a planet
A burst of light and a cloud of dust are signs that a distant star swallowed a giant planet.
- Animals
How to tell if cats are having fun — or if fur is flying
Quietly wrestling cats may be hard at play. But if they’re chasing and yowling, you might have a cat fight on your hands.
- Fossils
T. rex may have hidden its teeth behind lips
Dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus have long been portrayed with their big teeth bared. But new research suggests this wasn’t so.
- Physics
Shouting into the wind may seem futile — but it’s really not
Sending a sound upwind, against the flow of air, actually makes the sound louder — only it doesn’t sound that way to the person making the noise.
- Earth
Take candy core samples with this science activity
Act like a geologist as you drill ‘core samples’ from candy bars using a straw. Can you identify the type of candy bar just from a sample?
- Animals
Toothed whales use their noses to whistle and click
Much as people do, toothed whales, such as dolphins and sperm whales, make noises in three different vocal registers.
- Math
An ‘einstein’ shape eluded mathematicians for 50 years. Now they found one
The shapes can form an infinite tiled pattern that never repeats. The first is a 13-sided shape nicknamed “the hat.”
