The Woman Agrostologist Who Held the Earth Together
When government wouldn't fund female fieldwork, Agnes Chase pulled together her own resources.
The Female Fossilist Who Became a Jurassic Period Expert
Dressed in a petticoat and bonnet, Mary Anning climbed precarious cliffs to find prehistoric fossils.
Is Illinois the Next Bald Eagle Watching Spot?
Once seasonal migrants, the iconic birds of prey are settling in the state.
Love, Sex, and Cyanide—The Private Life of a Toxic Butterfly
Heliconian butterflies choose mates with similar wing patterns. Their genes make them do it.
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.
Can a Supernova Cause Mass Extinction?
Since the 1950s, scientists have been proposing supernovae as catalysts for mass extinctions. But can it be proven?
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 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?
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.
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.