Science

Studies show most football coaches make poor decisions on fourth down. Does Bill Belichick have a secret advantage?

Super Bowl Science: Are Football Coaches Irrational?

Studies show that coaches often make poor choices in crucial situations. But one coach may have a secret advantage

Astronomer Roger Angel is trying to harness the power of the sun with new technology developed for telescopes. The solar tracker pictured currently makes 2 kW of electric power.

An Astronomer’s Solution to Global Warming

The technology developed for telescopes, it turns out, can harness solar power

A restoration of the Cretaceous snake Sanajeh about to gulp down a baby sauropod.

Scrambled Eggs and the Demise of the Dinosaurs

Did egg-eating lizards and snakes contribute to the dinosaurs' extinction?

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Telomeres and Longevity in Zebra Finches

A study in birds confirms that protective caps on chromosomes predict a longer lifespan

A restoration of the island hadrosauroid Tethyshadros by Nobu Tamura

The “Duck-billed” Dinosaur That Wasn’t

Instead of a long, low duck bill, the beak of Tethyshadros was shaped like a snowplow and serrated. Why it had such a strange beak is a mystery

The bluetongue skink. Note the blue tongue.

How Animals Prepare for an Alien Invasion

Why can some--but only some--bluetongue skinks eat a toad that is poisonous to eat or even lick?

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Wild Things: Yeti Crabs, Guppies and Ravens

Tree killers and the first beds ever round up this month in wildlife news

Some orchid species mimic nectar-producing flowers to lure bees; others emit the fetid smell of rotting meat to attract carrion flies.

The Orchid Olympics

Breeders from 19 countries put their creations to the test at the 20th World Orchid Conference in Singapore

According to author Eric Klinenberg, there are more than 32 million people living alone—about 28 percent of all households.

Eric Klinenberg on Going Solo

The surprising benefits, to oneself and to society, of living alone

Lucy Jones is among the world's most influential seismologists—and perhaps the most recognizable.

Meet Lucy Jones, "the Earthquake Lady"

As part of her plan to prepare Americans for the next "big one," the seismologist tackles the dangerous phenomenon of denial

A reconstruction of Tyrannosaurus rex on display at the National Museum of Natural History.

T. rex Trying…

A new cartoon series counts the many things tiny-armed Tyrannosaurus couldn't do: cross-country ski, eat from a buffet, count to five

Top: The ninespine stickleback, Pungitus pungitus, is typical of the saltwater form. Bottom: A freshwater form of stickleback with fewer bony plates and fewer spines.

What Robot Fish Can Tell Us About Parallel Evolution

When housed in an aquarium with a swirling robotic school, what determines whether a fish will join the crowd?

How do boa constrictors know when to stop constricting?

Boa Constrictors Get a Feel for Their Prey

What makes a snake stop squeezing? We do science to prove ourselves wrong, because the answer people predicted is not the correct answer

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How an Ankylosaur Went Out to Sea

How did a heavily armored dinosaur wind up at the bottom of Alberta's Cretaceous sea?

Best of the Worst Roadside Dinosaurs

From New York to California, America's roads are haunted by bad dinosaurs

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Stephen Fry Inside the World of Dinosaurs

British actor Stephen Fry narrates a new interactive dinosaur encyclopedia

After decades of space exploration, there are now more than 500,000 pieces of artificial debris greater than half an inch in size.

Space Garbage: The Dark Cloud Above

A mass of debris from satellites and space missions is orbiting our planet—and it may be growing all the time

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This Week’s Breathtaking Aurora Borealis

Recent solar storms have triggered northern lights of unprecedented color and intensity

A parent Massospondylus attends to its hatchlings

Paleontologists Uncover Oldest Known Dinosaur Nest Site

The "lay 'em and leave 'em" strategy might not have been the ancestral state for these dinosaurs

The reconstructed shoulder and arm of Majungasaurus

Fearsome Dinosaur Had Ridiculously Short Arms

The forelimbs of this animal look like an evolutionary joke

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