Dark Matter in the Universe
According to current scientific theories, dark matter and dark energy make up most of the universe. But we don't even know what they actually are.
After the Lava Stops
When volcanos erupt, the type and location of the lava determines what habitat will develop after it stops flowing.
Venezuela’s Mysterious Tepuis
Many species on the tepui summits are found nowhere else. How did those species get there?
The Impact of Studying Antarctica
In such a pristine landscape, even a few thousand people can have a major ecological impact.
Great Scientific Discoveries That Weren’t
Dinosaur DNA! Life on Mars! In the world of science, amazing discoveries don’t quite work out the way the discoverer hopes they will.
When Scientists Perform Experiments on Themselves
More than one self-experiment has resulted in a Nobel Prize. Against all odds, and sometimes in spite of the damage they cause, these crazy gambits pay off.
The Earliest Stars
Astronomers who noticed a slight blip in space's background radiation got an insight not just into the early stars but into the age and nature of the early universe.
Remembering Stephen Hawking and Future Science
An original essay about the science of the future by the late theoretical physicist.
How to Measure a Mountain
It’s not easy to measure a mountain. Mount Everest's height has been known since the middle of the nineteenth century, but how did they figure it out with no altimeters or GPS?
What Awaits on the Dark Side of the Moon?
An unmanned Chinese probe will be exploring the moon's far side in 2018. The side that faces away from the earth differs significantly from the familiar face of the moon. So why are the two sides so different?