William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza

What Did the Winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine Discover?

The 2019 Nobel Prize for Medicine honors a discovery that may make it possible to prevent or even reverse the damage from cardiovascular disease.
Dolphins in captivity

The Ethics of Research on Captive Dolphins

Researchers say that dolphins are so smart that captivity causes them psychological harm. But getting data in the open ocean can be tricky.
A schematic of manganese nodules mining on the deep sea floor.

The Potential Pros and Cons of Seabed Mining

Concentrations of iron manganese nuggets and other metals in the deep seabed have stirred up interest in mining. But at what cost?
Illustration of reservoir in Austrian mountains supplying water for storage in hydroelectric turbines

Renewable Resources Call For Increased Power Storage

Solar and wind power are great renewable options, but to store the energy that's produced, we're going to to need bigger batteries.
A woman looking out a train window into the sunset with vitamin d pills approaching

How Does the Body Make Vitamin D from Sunlight?

A Curious Reader asks: How exactly does exposure to sunlight cause the the human body to synthesize Vitamin D3?
Climbers ascending Mount Everest

Mount Everest’s Death Zone

The zone above 8,000 meters is known among mountaineers as the “Death Zone.” Why do most deaths in the high mountains occur at these extreme heights?
A Wafer of the Latest D-Wave Quantum Computers

What Is a Quantum Computer?

Researchers claim to have turned back time inside a quantum computer. Meanwhile, most of us are still trying to wrap our minds around what that even means.
Space rocks floating in space as a spacecraft shines a light towards them

Kuiper Belt Objects Are as Mysterious as They Are Distant

Recently the New Horizons spacecraft made the first flyby of a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) in the extreme outer solar system. What do we know about KBOs?
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Golfstream.jpg

Remembering Climate Pioneer Dr. Wallace Broecker

He brought us the term "global warming," furthering our understanding of the ways in which people affect the planet's climate.
Replica of a Denisovan molar, originally found in Denisova Cave in 2000

Denisovans and Neanderthals Interbred in a Giant Cave

New findings shed light on how humans' ancestors interbred, but the Denisovans remain quite mysterious.