A piece of polished amber

Facts and Fancies About Amber

It's taken scientists a long time to figure out what amber is made of, and what we can learn from it.
An ancient supernova

Can a Supernova Cause Mass Extinction?

Since the 1950s, scientists have been proposing supernovae as catalysts for mass extinctions. But can it be proven?
Composite image of Dmitri Mendeleev, a periodic table, and the Milky Way galaxy

How Far Does the Periodic Table Go?

Efforts to fill the periodic table raise questions of special relativity that “strike at the very heart of chemistry as a discipline.”
Voyager 2 near Neptune and Triton

Voyager 2 Heads into the Unknown

Forty-one years after its launch, Voyager 2 has officially crossed out of the solar system and into interstellar space. What has it discovered along the way?
Restoration of Burgess Shale fossil arthropod Waptia fieldensis

Meeting Earth’s First Animals at the Burgess Shale

The Burgess Shale is a huge deposit of unique fossils that reveals records of the middle Cambrian, a vital period in evolutionary history.
The InSight lander operating on the surface of Mars.

What’s Inside Mars?

Everything scientists think they know about the interior of Mars is based on indirect observations. NASA's new InSight Lander aims to change that.
Members of the Cascades Butterfly Citizen Science Team

A Scientific Look at Citizen Science

Citizen science involves using large numbers of volunteers to collect data for scientific research. But does it result in usable data?
Coral conservationist Ruth Gates

Remembering Coral Conservationist Ruth Gates

Dr. Ruth Gates worked tirelessly to conserve coral reefs, promoting a controversial idea called assisted evolution.
Hayabusa2 Approaches Asteroid Ryugu

Asteroids Are Windows to the Past

Japan’s space agency has landed rovers on Asteroid Ryugu. The photos and samples from the mission will reveal a lot about asteroids.
Illustration of a woman with straight hair and another with curly hair

Why Do Some People Have Curly Hair and Others Straight?

Either environmental or sexual selective pressure began acting on hair after humans began dispersing out of Africa.