Science
Discover facts about science. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Science
Why autocomplete leaves out controversial searches
Autocomplete doesn’t simply display every popular search. Search engines can filter out suggestions about sensitive or alarming topics, so a blank spot in the…
Discover more
Why smart speakers say 'hmm' before answering
That “hmm” is a conversational cue, not proof the speaker has a tiny person inside thinking. An instant reply can feel abrupt or robotic; a brief pause…
Discover more
Biometric security fails when fingerprints leak
A fingerprint is a lasting identifier, not a secret you can replace. If someone steals the stored template a system uses to recognize it, changing your finger…
Discover more
Why SMS codes are a weak shield for your accounts
A texted login code protects an account only as long as you control the phone number receiving it. A scammer may trick a carrier into moving that number to a…
Discover more
Blockchain is basically a slow shared document
A blockchain is a record shared across many computers, which agree on what entries come next. Each new block carries a cryptographic fingerprint linked to the…
Discover more
Code compilation is just flipping switches
A compiler translates code written for people into machine instructions a processor can understand. The processor then decodes those instructions, and its…
Discover more
STACKY FOR IPHONEA bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.
Keep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.
Autoplay features exploit human laziness
Autoplay makes the next episode start unless you stop it. A countdown turns doing nothing into permission, while stopping takes an extra click. The show…
Discover more
Deleting your history doesn't erase every trace
Clearing browser history may leave the computer’s DNS cache behind—a temporary list matching website names to internet addresses. It can show that a domain…
Discover more
Zip files compress data by replacing text
A ZIP file saves space by spotting a stretch of data that has appeared before and replacing it with a short instruction pointing back to that earlier copy.…
Discover more
A decoy server makes an intruder reveal their methods
A honeypot is set up to attract suspicious activity so defenders can study attempts to enter or exploit it. Because it isn't serving ordinary users in the…
Discover more
The arbitrary date that starts Unix time
Unix time is a stopwatch with an agreed starting line: midnight on January 1, 1970. Computers count seconds forward from there, or use negative counts for…
Discover more
A quick format can leave recoverable files behind
Formatting often rebuilds a drive's file-system structures rather than overwriting every old file. On a hard disk, that can leave recoverable contents until…
Discover more
Why online recipes are buried under filler
Recipe pages may include extra details because people search for more than ingredient lists: they may want substitutions, timing, or clues that a dish is…
Discover more
The volcano on Mars that dwarfs Everest
Runny lava poured out and traveled across the ground, spreading wide rather than piling up into a steep cone. Repeated eruptions laid down more broad sheets…
Discover more
Moon footprints could outlast human civilization
A footprint stays sharp because the Moon has no wind or rain to sweep dust into it or wash it away. With no weather crew on cleanup duty, prints can last…
Discover more
Why Earth's CO₂ levels dip every spring
The yearly dip is a plant-driven tug on the atmosphere. Northern Hemisphere vegetation takes up CO₂ as it grows in spring, then decay and respiration send…
Discover more
A mosquito doesn't stab with just one needle
Its feeding apparatus contains six slender mouthparts working together. Some help pierce and hold tissue, while separate channels deliver saliva and draw…
Discover more
Scientists have proposed diamond rain inside giant planets.
Scientists have proposed diamond rain inside giant planets. One hypothesis for Jupiter and Saturn starts with lightning breaking methane apart and leaving…
Discover more
Tempered glass stores the stress that helps shatter it
Manufacturing leaves the surface compressed and the interior under tension. When damage lets a crack penetrate that protected surface, stored stress drives…
Discover more
A strawberry carries tiny fruits on the outside.
A strawberry carries tiny fruits on the outside. Each of the little dots is a dry fruit containing a seed; the red flesh is enlarged flower tissue supporting…
Discover more
A million seconds is days; a billion is decades
A million seconds lasts about 11½ days. A billion lasts about 31.7 years because it contains a thousand millions. The words sound like neighboring sizes, but…
Discover more
Aphids can be born already carrying the next generation
When conditions are favorable, a female aphid can make daughters without mating—and those daughters may already contain developing embryos of their own. The…
Discover more
Iron structures like the Eiffel Tower can grow up to six inches taller during the summer months due to the principle of thermal expansion.
Iron structures like the Eiffel Tower can grow up to six inches taller during the summer months due to the principle of thermal expansion. Sunlight warms the…
Discover more
Venus takes longer to turn once than to orbit the Sun.
Venus takes longer to turn once than to orbit the Sun. One rotation takes about 243 Earth days; one orbit takes about 225. Venus also spins in the opposite…
Discover more