grief app

Grief? There’s an App for That.

Would you want to be able to talk to a loved one after they'd passed away, knowing it wasn't really them? Would it help? Would it hurt?
Penguins in Antarctica

Antarctic Ice Reveals Temporary Side Effect of Carbon Pollution: Happy Plants

The rate of photosynthesis has increased dramatically over the past century. Plants have been shielding us from some of the effects of climate change.
Water Treatment Plant

Can Bacteria Improve the Water We Drink?

Municipal water treatment just got easier, cheaper, and more efficient. And it's all thanks to an unlikely helper: bacteria.
Valetta city buildings with birds flying over them, Malta

To Kill a Maltese Bird

The Mediterranean island nation of Malta is the scene of migratory bird massacres twice a year. Why do they continue to do it?
Bent Pyramid

How to Lose a Pyramid

Archaeologists recently discovered evidence of a long-lost pyramid dating to the thirteenth dynasty of Egypt’s Old Kingdom. How does a pyramid get lost?
A man uses a futuristic touchscreen interface

How Early Adopters Take Charge of Their Tech

Being an early adopter isn't about how quickly you snap up the latest smartphone. We can all be early adopters in the more meaningful sense of tech mastery.
Close-up of a pink octopus in the sea with a starfish

The Strange Genetic Trick of the Cephalopods

What makes cephalapods like octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish so intelligent? The answer might be in the way they can edit their own RNA as they go.
Empty hospital corridor with closed doors at the end

The Ongoing Practice of Female Genital Mutilation

Female genital mutilation seems totally foreign to the U.S., but versions of the long-outlawed surgery have seen a recent resurgence.
Heads quarters

The Statistics of Coin Tosses for Theater Geeks

At the beginning of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, a coin toss lands as heads 92 times in a row, the odds of which are a mere 1 in 5 octillion.
Audubon Bald Eagle

The Early Audubon Society Helped Bridge the Gap between Men and Women Conservationists

The man who formed the first Audubon Society was educated by Audubon's widow and found a way to unite men and women in the conservation movement.