Articles

Researchers scanned the brains of memorizers as they practiced tried-and-true memory techniques to see how their brains changed in response to their training.

New Research

Neuroscientists Unlock the Secrets of Memory Champions

Boosting your ability to remember lists, from facts to faces, is a matter of retraining your brain

What Lions Look for in the Perfect Prey

For lions hunting buffalo in the Manyeleti, calculation is always at play: An adult male buffalo may be harder to bring down

Upper Antelope Canyon

Shimmy Through the World's Most Spectacular Slot Canyons

Where to explore the best of these narrow, water-worn passageways

New "Don't mess with Texas" trash cans at the Texas capitol building in Austin.

The Trashy Beginnings of “Don’t Mess With Texas”

A true story of the defining phrase of the Lone Star state

Itchy and scratchy: When they see their peers scratching away, mice get the urge to itch.

New Research

Why Is Itching So Contagious?

Scientists figure out how compulsive scratching spreads in mice, and maybe humans

Henry Peter Bosse Construction of Rock and Brush Dam, L.W., 1891 cyanotype

Photographs of America’s Eastern Treasures Finally Have Their Moment in the Limelight

A neglected period of American photographic history goes on display at the National Gallery of Art

Could This Chatbot Prevent Some Deportations?

Visabot helps immigrants and visitors to the United States obtain and keep visas

Allied Troops Used These Massive Pipe Bombs at Omaha Beach

World War II veteran John Raaen Jr. was there the day Allied troops stormed Omaha Beach at Normandy

Illustration titled, “If you want to get rid of mosquitos, drain the swamp that breeds them.” (1909)

History of Now

The Myth That Washington Was a Swamp Will Never Go Away

It makes for a catchy slogan used by politicians of all persuasions, but there's little truth to it

Paleo diet? Not so much. Thanks to Neanderthal dental plaque, researchers are getting a much better idea of what our ancestors actually dined on.

New Research

Scientists Delve Into Neanderthal Dental Plaque to Understand How They Lived and Ate

The plaque that coated Neanderthal teeth is shedding new light on how our ancestors ate, self-medicated and interacted with humans

Adorable Ground Squirrels Playing in Sweltering Heat

Ground squirrels in the Kalahari have devised a remarkable method to guarantee portable shade: they use their tails as umbrellas

Coralline algae of the genus Clathromorphum are specific to the Arctic and Subarctic, and they have critically important stories to tell about their ocean and how it has changed over the centuries.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

In Its Layers, This Stunning Pink Coralline Algae Holds Secrets of Climates Past

Unseen and unsung for centuries, these underwater species of coralline algae are providing scientists with an unparalleled new archive of information

The Featured Works display at the American Writers Museum in Chicago.

America's First Writers Museum Is Slated to Open in May

A new home for celebrating American literary titans, titles and traditions takes root in Chicago

While excavating at Bluefish Caves in northern Yukon during the 1970s and 1980s, Canadian archaeologist Cinq-Mars found cut-marked horse bones and other traces of human hunters that seemed to date to 24,000 years ago—thousands of years before the Clovis people.

What Happens When an Archaeologist Challenges Mainstream Scientific Thinking?

The story of Jacques Cinq-Mars and the Bluefish Caves shows how toxic atmosphere can poison scientific progress

Surfers take to the water in Montauk, where a shark nursery was discovered offshore last summer.

Future of Conservation

Can Social Media Give Sharks a Better Reputation?

A nonprofit called Ocearch is naming tagged sharks and giving them Twitter and Instagram accounts to ease fears and aid in conservation

Pedestrians walking by the the Dwarfs of Wroclaw on Świdnicka Street, the main shopping street in the city.

Where to Hunt for the World’s Smallest Monuments

Don't overlook these tiny statues in cities around the world

Flame retardants and lead in Mardi Gras beads may pose a danger to people and the environment.

The Toxic Truth Behind Mardi Gras Beads

Every year, 25 million pounds of plastic beads made by Chinese factory workers get dumped on the streets of New Orleans

Thaddeus Kosciuszko

The Polish Patriot Who Helped Americans Beat the British

Thaddeus Kosciuszko engineered the colonial defenses in some of the Revolution's most critical battles

For years, boys at Fernald State School were subjected to experiments using radioactive tracers in oatmeal.

A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Radioactive Oatmeal Go Down

When MIT and Quaker Oats paired up to conduct experiments on unsuspecting young boys

Engineers tested the new technology with this poster at a Seattle bus stop.

In Smart Cities of the Future, Posters and Street Signs Can Talk

University of Washington engineers show how "smart" posters can send a message via FM radio waves to smartphone or car radio

Page 374 of 1284