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What Happens to Google Maps When Tectonic Plates Move?
As a writer on physics, I’m always seeking new metaphors for understanding Einstein’s general theory of...
A closeup on the flight and longevity of tropical bats
The ecological success of bats, their almost worldwide distribution, and their phylogenetic diversity is in large...
The Speediest Creatures on Earth
How tiny one-celled protists pull off their strange and marvelous feats. By Kristen French March 14,...
The Plight of Japan's AMA Divers
On the last day of fishing season, Ayami Nakata starts her morning by lighting a small...
The End of the Dark Universe?
Please excuse me for being excited, but this hasn’t happened for more than four decades: Physicists...
How Illegal Fishing Ships Hide
Earlier this year, Bjorn Bergman noticed something odd about a fishing ship off the coast of...
Asteroid Defense Gets Serious
Back in the early 1990s, Dave Tholen, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii, had an...
The first observation of humpback whale copulation
Two photographers in Maui, out on a boat, spotted a pair of humpback whales in January...
Could Modified Gravity Kill Planet Nine?
For eight years, astronomers have hunted for a mysterious “Planet Nine” on the edges of our...
ChatGPT Is Funnier Than You
There are three fundamental rules of humor. Unfortunately, no one can remember what they are. We...
The Violent Birth of the Moon
In the beginning, about 4.6 billion years ago, all was chaos within a cloud of gas...
"It's Like You're a Space Explorer Encountering Aliens"
The gossamer worm is a tiny feathery creature that lives 4,000 feet below the surface of...
Cells Across the Body Talk to Each Other About Aging
Aging can seem like an unregulated process: As time marches along, our cells and bodies inevitably...
The Magic of the Blackboard
In the beginning, there is nothing. Then a stroke of white appears. And another. Characters form....
The Dubious Economics of Deep-Sea Mining
The debate over deep-sea mining has focused almost entirely on environmental impacts: how marvelous communities of...
What You Don't Know About Sperm
Sperm don’t get much respect. They’re little more than a bare-bones package of DNA outfitted with...
A peculiar fish and an evolutionary mystery
Our story begins in 1954, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in what was then Belgian...
Thank Eve for Human Evolution
In October, at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in England, Cat Bohannon was sporting a pink latex...