Science
Discover facts about science. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Science
Stegosaurus had tiny teeth—and a surprisingly useful bite
Scans of the specimen nicknamed Sophie let researchers reconstruct its jaw muscles. Despite teeth about the size of a little fingernail, its bite force was…
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Why no two snowflakes are exactly alike
A snowflake grows as water vapor freezes onto it, one tiny deposit at a time. Each flake takes a slightly different path through changing temperature and…
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Thirsty plants may click loudly—but you can’t hear them
A stressed plant may produce tiny pops as air bubbles form or collapse in its water-transport tissue. The sounds are ultrasonic, meaning too high-pitched for…
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Cutting onions releases a gas that attacks your eyes and makes you cry
Your eyes are trying to rinse away a gas made when cutting mixes chemicals inside onion cells. The gas dissolves in the moisture on your eyes and irritates…
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Why avocado trees need a neighbor to pollinate
Avocado flowers open first in a female phase and later in a male phase, so pollen and receptive flowers have to line up in time. Trees with complementary…
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Old map monsters did more than fill empty water
Olaus Magnus's 1539 Carta Marina packed northern seas with fantastic creatures and dramatic encounters. Historians read those images as a mixture of reported…
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Platinum's rarity at the mine isn't the same as rarity in the crust
A metal can exist in rock yet be difficult to gather in useful concentrations. Mining and processing costs, the location of deposits, and production alongside…
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Cranberries can be sorted by how well they bounce
Firm, sound berries tend to rebound, while damaged or soft fruit behaves differently. Bounce testing exploits that physical difference to help separate the…
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Why green potatoes can make you sick
A potato turns green after exposure to light, but the color itself isn’t what can make you sick. Light can also increase glycoalkaloids—natural chemicals that…
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The first Atlas honored a legendary scholar-king
Mercator chose the title for his 1595 work in honor of Atlas, a legendary king of Mauretania associated with astronomy and learning. His title page shows a…
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The first maps were built on hearsay
A sailor’s account of a faraway coast could travel from person to person before it reached a mapmaker. If someone misjudged a distance or direction, the next…
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White chocolate has no cocoa solids
White chocolate gets its cacao from the bean’s fat, cocoa butter, not the brown, nonfat solids used in dark chocolate. Pressing cacao separates the two; white…
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Fiction made X the instant symbol for buried treasure
An X gives a treasure map a clear visual destination: there is one place to dig. Stories such as Treasure Island helped turn that simple device into part of…
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You can eat pure gold
Edible gold leaf passes through your gut largely unchanged because your body can’t break down or absorb elemental gold. It adds sparkle, not calories or…
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The wild mustard that became broccoli
Those florets on your broccoli are flower buds—and people selectively bred the plant to make them large. The same wild-cabbage relative was shaped into kale…
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Why titanium can become part of your bones
Titanium implants can bond with bone because their surface quickly forms a thin oxide layer. As bone grows, it attaches to that surface, anchoring the implant…
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Mount Everest is still getting taller
The Indian plate keeps pushing against the Eurasian plate, squeezing the Himalayas upward. At the same time, erosion wears rock away and earthquakes can shift…
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Massive rivers flow beneath the ground
In limestone country, rain gradually eats openings into the rock. Water slips through cracks and sinkholes, gathers into cave streams, and can pop back out at…
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Cotton naturally grows as a fluffy protective seed casing
A cotton boll is packed with long hairs, and each hair is a single plant cell. Their length lets the fibers twist around one another and hold together when…
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Why medieval maps put east at the top
Many medieval European mapmakers put east at the top because they chose a religious viewpoint. Some centered Jerusalem and placed east—the direction…
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Every saffron flower gives you just three useful threads
The spice comes from the red stigmas of a crocus, picked individually during a short flowering window. A large number of blossoms therefore produces very…
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Globes tilt at exactly 23.5 degrees to match Earth
Earth's axis stays tilted about 23.5 degrees and points in nearly the same direction as the planet circles the Sun. So each hemisphere takes a turn leaning…
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Why rhubarb leaves can be poisonous
Rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid, which can be harmful if eaten; the stalks are the part commonly used in food. How much someone eats matters, but a large…
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Corn is a grass—yes, really
Corn is a grass, and each kernel is a fruit with a seed inside. In grasses, the fruit’s outer layer fuses with the seed coat, making one compact package. So…
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