Science

Of Penises and Planets: On Labels in Science and Culture

Just what counts as a penis? A debate over what to call the genitals of an unusual group of cave insects has broader implications, because it gets right at the heart of science and science communication: what’s the relationship between the labels we use in science and the way those labels are understood by our…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

Stop Using Rat Poison, It’s Killing Wildlife

The mountain lion mascot of Los Angeles, Griffith Park’s P-22, is sick. And it’s all our fault. The story of P-22 is one of super-feline proportions. The cat managed, somehow, to move safely across two different eight-lane highways, a maneuver that ended in a far more grisly manner for three of his counterparts. He managed…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

Endangered Orangutan Relaxes While Being Treated For A Gunshot Wound

Orangutans aren’t only threatened by palm oil plantations, it seems. In this photo a 14-year-old male orang gets some veterinary attention by staff at the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme because he was shot with metal pellets from an air gun. Meanwhile, he gives the photographer his best honey badger face. The orangutan was rescued by…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

The SpaceX Launch Is Sending Dinosaur Microbes to the Space Station

The SpaceX Dragon capsule that just left Earth for the International Space Station is carrying many an important item: a new laser communication system, coffee (which they just ran out of!), a planter for fresh produce, and billions and billions of microbes swabbed from dinosaur bones, sneakers, and spacecraft clean rooms. Over the next few…

Space & Spaceflight Sarah Zhang

Scientists Have Cloned Embryos From Adult Cells For the First Time Ever

Ever since Dolly the sheep was cloned eighteen years ago, scientists have been trying and failing to use that same technique to create cloned human embryos from adult cells. Now, they’ve finally succeeded, in what could a major step toward personalized organ transplants and other therapies that rely on a pool of stem cells. Last…

Health Sarah Zhang

Consider a Spherical Cow

The Spherical Cow is a physics classic, invoked in every introductory course as a way of simplifying an intractable problem down to something you can actually solve. Now that concept is running, but mostly rolling, through the plains of Africa in this delightful animation. https://observationdeck.kinja.com/and-this-is-why-animals-arent-round-1564640903

Biology Mika McKinnon

HD Video From Space Makes the World’s Tallest Building Look Like a Toy

Static, low-res satellite imagery is so passé. Watching HD video from space satellites is the future, especially when looking down on the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. We’ve seen how footage like this makes the world look like a video game, or a Micro Machines playset! It’s sped up of course, but the airplane…

Space & Spaceflight Michael Hession

What Would Happen If the Earth Span So Fast a Day Lasted One Second?

The Earth takes a little under 24 hours to rotates on its axis. But what if that leisurely paced pick up—and up and up and up? In this week’s What If, Randall Munroe decided to answer that exact question. If the Earth rotated so fast that a day lasted a single second, things would go…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe

Youth Lagoon Used Sounds from Space to Make This Dreamy New Song

You can’t hear sound in space. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t make sound from space. Lefse Records recently did just that, inviting 14 artists to make songs using “sounds” from space. The first track released is by Youth Lagoon, and it’s pretty good! Again, these sounds aren’t like what you hear when you…

Space & Spaceflight Adam Clark Estes

These Shiny Foil Screenprints Of Space History Are Fantastic

The UK designers at Astronomika have launched a limited edition screenprint series that they describe as their attempt to draw everything humans have sent into space. They call it “a growing compendium of beautifully crafted screenprints celebrating the past, present and future of spaceflight.” The results so far—printed with aluminum and bronze foils by Dan…

Space & Spaceflight Geoff Manaugh

Scientists Discover the Gynosome, a New Kind of Sexual Organ

It’s a first in the animal kingdom. Among a group of cave-dwelling Brazilian insects, the females use a specialized sex organ to penetrate the males. Scientists say that their lives challenge everything we thought we knew about sexual selection. The insects are all members of the genus Neotrogla, whose four species all measure around a…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

This New Hubble Pic Takes Us Halfway to the Edge of the Universe

This is a new picture taken by the Hubble Telescope that shows us the universe in more detail than we’ve ever seen it. It’s a 14-hour exposure that shows objects at various stages and distances in cosmic history—showing tiny objects that would appear a billion times fainter if looked upon with our weak human eyes.…

Space & Spaceflight Leslie Horn

What Animal Gets The Most REM Sleep?

Do you think its dogs? Dogs sleep a lot. Guess again. What about cats? Not them either. It isn’t a primate, so that rules out humans, apes, and monkeys. Sleep researchers divide the phases of sleep into two broad categories: REM and NREM. In REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, your muscles are almost completely paralyzed,…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

What Will Happen When the Earth’s Magnetic Field Switches

The Earth’s magnetic field protects life on Earth, shielding it from damaging radiation and moderating our climate. So the idea that it could completely flip around, or collapse altogether, should cause us to worry, right? Well, yes and no. Magnetosphere Basics The result of electrical currents generated deep within the Earth through dynamic action, the…

Space & Spaceflight Melissa - TodayIFoundOut.com

France Lost Thousands of Vials Containing the SARS Virus

Somebody’s definitely getting fired, after over 2,300 vials containing fragments of the deadly SARS virus went missing from the Pasteur Institute in France earlier this week. Not one or two vials, mind you. Thousands of them. Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be okay. Despite the fact that the vials of SARS were stored in a…

Health Adam Clark Estes

Can Los Angeles Become A “No Kill” City For Pets?

Here’s the thing about euthanizing animals in pet shelters: nobody wants to do it. It’s simply a consequence of an imbalance between supply and demand. More unwanted animals wind up in increasingly overcrowded shelters than are adopted out. The root of the problem is a welfare tradeoff. Is it better to house fewer animals at…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

The Future of Interstellar Communication Goes “Pew, Pew, Pew”

It’s no subspace transceiver but this prototype communicator bound for the ISS could revolutionize how we share data over the vast expanses of solar space. It will deliver Gigabit speeds through deep space. As the quality and quantity of onboard sensors improve on NASA’s interplanetary probes and orbital telescopes continue to increase, so too does…

Space & Spaceflight Andrew Tarantola

The Science Behind Making the Fastest Possible Pinewood Derby Car

You wouldn’t think that a four-wheeled car would go faster if one of its wheels didn’t touch the ground. Or if its axles were bent. Or if it was designed to grind against a wall. But you’d be wrong, and here’s the science to prove it. Our old friend Mark Rober—former NASA JPL engineer—has put…

Physics & Chemistry Brent Rose

Swine Flu Is Jumping Into More Species Than Ever

Remember the H1N1 flu that spread across the planet in 2009? It was the same flu strain that was predominant during this winter’s flu season. Now it’s turned up in sea otters living off the coast of Washington state, and researchers don’t know how it got there. During the summer of 2011, scientists from the…

Biology Jason G. Goldman

A Rare Genetic Mutation in These Siblings Makes Them Immune to Viruses

Viruses are incompetent but smart little things. Unable to make proteins on their own, they hijack ours for their own nefarious purposes. But what if we gave the viruses broken proteins? An incredibly rare genetic disorder in a brother and sister pair does exactly that, making them immune to many classes of viruses—and suggesting new…

Health Sarah Zhang

Of Penises and Planets: On Labels in Science and Culture

Stop Using Rat Poison, It’s Killing Wildlife

Endangered Orangutan Relaxes While Being Treated For A Gunshot Wound

The SpaceX Launch Is Sending Dinosaur Microbes to the Space Station

Scientists Have Cloned Embryos From Adult Cells For the First Time Ever

Consider a Spherical Cow

HD Video From Space Makes the World’s Tallest Building Look Like a Toy

What Would Happen If the Earth Span So Fast a Day Lasted One Second?

Youth Lagoon Used Sounds from Space to Make This Dreamy New Song

These Shiny Foil Screenprints Of Space History Are Fantastic

Scientists Discover the Gynosome, a New Kind of Sexual Organ

This New Hubble Pic Takes Us Halfway to the Edge of the Universe

What Animal Gets The Most REM Sleep?

What Will Happen When the Earth’s Magnetic Field Switches

France Lost Thousands of Vials Containing the SARS Virus

Can Los Angeles Become A “No Kill” City For Pets?

The Future of Interstellar Communication Goes “Pew, Pew, Pew”

The Science Behind Making the Fastest Possible Pinewood Derby Car

Swine Flu Is Jumping Into More Species Than Ever

A Rare Genetic Mutation in These Siblings Makes Them Immune to Viruses

Scientists Create ‘Living Pharmacy’ Implant That Doses 3 Drugs at Once

Dyson Supersonic Nural Hair Dryer Cuts Into Its Premium Price Tag in the Spring Sale, Bid Frequent Salon Visits Goodbye

I Wouldn’t Plan on Wearing Smart Glasses to Court Anytime Soon

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic Comes Down $130 Amid a 2025 Smartwatch Lineup Clearout on Amazon

Disney Will Not Bow to Audience Belief That the Rock’s ‘Moana’ Wig Looks Awful

Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Hits a Record Low as It Moves Beyond Espresso Machine Deals on Amazon

Doctors Struggle to Spot AI-Generated X-Rays, Raising Scam Risks

Sonos Roam 2 Speaker Turns the Amazon Spring Sale into a Black Friday Moment, Now at Its Lowest Price

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

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