A tornado in a field

Why Tornadoes Are So Difficult to Predict

Scientists and weather forecasters have been trying to understand tornadoes for over 100 years, but the average advanced warning is still only 14 minutes.
A constellation of satellites

Losing the Night Sky

Does an increase in satellites mean we soon won't be able to see the stars?
Lou-seal being released

The Seal That Flew 1000 Miles To Get Home

Found stranded on a subtropical beach, the mystery seal finally comes home to its North Atlantic waters.
An archerfish shooting water at a bug

The Amazing Eyes of the Archerfish

The archerfish has an unusual skill: it spits water directly at its prey, knocking the bugs out of the sky. But how?
A geometrid moth caterpillar

Camouflage Gets Weird

Some animals use chemical camouflage, even altering the way they smell in order to avoid predation.
Scientist viewing plant leaf in a petri dish under a inverted microscope in a laboratory.

Artificial Photosynthesis

What is artificial photosynthesis, how does it work, and why would we need it?
Plastic waste floating in the sea

Is Plastic Pollution Depriving Us of Oxygen?

Plastic debris is killing the ocean’s “invisible forests,” which produce ten percent of the oxygen we breathe.
A peacock

Green Birds Aren’t Really Green

Some of the most dazzling coloration you see in birds doesn’t actually exist.
A landfill with smoke in the background

The Lowdown on Municipal Trash Incinerators

Burning household trash in massive incinerators saves landfill space, but it also introduces a host of other waste management issues.
A physician wearing a seventeenth century plague preventive costume

How the Plague Reshaped the World

The bacterium that causes the plague emerged relatively recently, as bacterium go. And yet the pandemics it's created have altered the world.