Science

A woman depositing a plastic bottle in a recycling bin in Worcestershire, UK.

Recycling: You May Be Doing It Wrong

As more things are able to be recycled, the world of recycling grows ever more complicated

Oil floats on the surface of Gulf waters in June 2010. Is it still there today?

Breaking Down the Myths and Misconceptions About the Gulf Oil Spill

Does oil stick around in the ecosystem indefinitely? What was the deal with the deformed fish? Can anything bad that happens in the Gulf be blamed on oil?

Female on top: A female Neotrogla insect mates with a male in a cave in eastern Brazil.

In This Community of Brazilian Cave Insects, Females Wear the Penises, Literally

A genus of insect that inhabits caves in eastern Brazil has reversed sex organs, say scientists

What future will our children inherit?

New Poll Reveals Americans' Predictions of the Future

What are they most fearful of? What are they most optimistic about?

Mom's ample body serves as this baby's bed for now, but soon she'll grow up to build sleeping nests of her own.

New Research

Chimpanzees Are Extremely Picky About Where They Sleep

The primates painstakingly rebuild their nest from scratch every night—a pre-bed ritual reminiscent of the "Princess and the Pea"

A FedEx truck carrying the Wankel T. rex skeleton departed Bozeman, Montana, on Friday for the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. A bronze cast of the 65-million-year-old skeleton outside the Museum of the Rockies looks on in the foreground.

Five Things We Don’t Know About Tyrannosaurus Rex

As the Smithsonian welcomes the arrival of its fossil rex, scientists reveal all that we have yet to learn about this magnificent creature

Jacqueline and Kenneth Griffin Jr. live in Atlanta, Georgia, with their two kids, Kenneth “Tre” Griffin III, 9, and Antonio, 7. Over the course of a week, they produced 41.1 pounds of household waste—31 pounds of landfill garbage and 10.1 pounds of recyclables.

Art Meets Science

What Can We Learn From Pictures of People and Their Trash?

A photography project meets public service campaign aims to raise awareness about what we throw in the trash in just one week

Researchers say they've developed a system that allows them to use dolphins' own language to communicate with the animals.

Tech Watch

Checking the Claim: A Device That Translates Dolphin Sounds Into English

Researchers used new technology to interpret a dolphin noise they say translates loosely to "seaweed"

As climate change makes wet places wetter and dry areas drier, the frequency of drought is expected in increase in certain locations. Droughts, such as this one in Kenya in 2006, can increase food insecurity, especially among the poor.

Anthropocene

Eight Ways That Climate Change Hurts Humans

From floods and droughts to increases in violent conflict, climate change is taking a toll on the planet's population

A coqui frog perches on a branch in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico

Chirps of Coqui Frogs May Be Getting Shorter and Higher Pitched As Climate Warms

The shift in duration and pitch could impede females’ ability to pick up on mating signals, researchers say

Desmarestia herbacea, acid kelp; Santa Cruz, CA; c. 1898; Collection: University Herbarium, UC Berkeley, CA

Art Meets Science

These Delicate Images of Seaweed Were Captured Using a Flatbed Scanner

In a new book, photographer Josie Iselin highlights the exquisite colors and forms of kelp and other marine algae

Could it be true vole love, or just a casual encounter? Depends on whether booze is involved.

New Research

Drunken Prairie Voles Help Explain Alcohol’s Demons

Why do some people become more prone to attachment and sentimentality when drunk, while others tend to stray?

Baridi, the Houston Zoo's two-month-old Masai giraffe.

Cute Baby Animals You Have To See This Spring

From tiny tapirs to pint-sized polar bears — America’s zoos are full of new baby animals

Noah's Ark by Edward Hicks, 1846.

New Research

Could Noah’s Ark Float? In Theory, Yes

Basic physics suggests that an ark carrying lots of animal cargo could float, but science doesn’t support other facets of the biblical tale

Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat, by Simon de Myle

Ten Ancient Stories and the Geological Events That May Have Inspired Them

If you dig deep enough, say scientists, you can find some truth to legends and creation stories

"Make eggs, make eggs!"

New Research

A Loving Touch Triggers Cockroaches to Make Babies Faster

Female cockroaches make eggs more quickly if they cuddle with other roaches, but artificial antennae delivering gentle touches can also speed egg growth

Adrian Sugar (seated second from left) and his surgical team during the facial rebuild operation at Morriston Hospital. The team reconstructed 29-year-old Stephen Power's face using models and implants from a 3D printer.

Tech Watch

How 3D Printing Helped Repair This Man's Face

In a landmark procedure, surgeons used 3D printing techniques to restore a patient's facial likeness after a horrific injury

Small island nations such as Tuvalu in the South Pacific face a wide range of threats from climate change, including rising seas that will inundate the land.

Five Frightening Observations From the Latest International Climate Change Report

Adaptation cannot save us from all the negative impacts of pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere

A view of the installation of the ATLAS portion of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

Art Meets Science

Art and Science Collide in the Discovery of the Higgs Boson

<i>Particle Fever</i>, a documentary about the physicists who found the "God particle," suggests doing science isn’t that different from making art

A West Indian manatee calf nurses from its mother.

American South

14 Fun Facts About Manatees

These roly-poly herbivores just may be the teddy bears of the sea. But keep an eye out when boating; they don’t move so fast.

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