Science
Discover facts about science. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Science
Human cellular proteins spontaneously condense into distinct floating liquid droplets resembling miniature lava lamps, utilizing a bizarre liquid-liquid phase separation…
Biology textbooks entirely lied to you about how organized your cells are. They aren't just neat little bags of rigid organelles. When the cell needs to get…
Discover moreCalifornia swell sharks secretly transform the dark blue ocean depths into an intense neon light show by using uniquely specialized skin molecules to absorb ambient ocean blue…
While we build neon signs, sharks have been hosting underground raves for millions of years. Deep underwater, all warm colors fade away, leaving only…
Discover moreAustralia's magnificent Great Barrier Reef relies entirely on a highly unstable microscopic alliance where starving coral polyps enslave photosynthetic algae called zooxanthellae…
A beautiful tropical reef isn't a peaceful paradise; it is a ruthless microscopic hostage situation. Tropical ocean waters are essentially biological deserts…
Discover moreSubmersible Alvin discovered giant blood-red Riftia tube worms thriving in the pitch-black Pacific Ocean abyss, completely abandoning sunlight to survive by feeding toxic…
Sunlight is apparently for amateurs. When scientists took the Alvin submarine down to the Galapagos Rift in 1977, they fully expected a barren underwater…
Discover moreAntarctica's massive Vostok ice core acts as a frozen time machine trapping microscopic air bubbles from the Pleistocene epoch, allowing researchers to precisely measure…
We complain about bad weather today, but climatologists are literally reading half-million-year-old weather reports trapped in solid ice. When snow falls in…
Discover moreResearchers are manipulating ultrasonic acoustic waves to trap and flawlessly levitate heavy liquid droplets in mid-air, utilizing the sheer brute force of invisible standing…
Gravity is merely a suggestion if you have a loud enough speaker. Acoustic levitation uses perfectly opposed ultrasonic transducers to fire sound waves at…
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Chemist Ahmed Zewail literally filmed chemical bonds violently ripping apart in real-time by blasting molecules with a femtosecond laser strobe light that flashes at an…
How do you catch an atom in the exact moment it decides to break up with its partner? Chemical reactions happen far too fast for any traditional camera. Ahmed…
Discover moreNASA's massive OSIRIS-REx spacecraft nearly swallowed itself alive when it punched the asteroid Bennu, discovering that the giant space rock is actually just a loose terrifying…
We spent a billion dollars to punch a rock, only to find out we were fighting a giant space ballpit. When NASA sent a probe to collect samples from the…
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Why magnetic traps struggle to keep fusion plasma hot
Fusion experiments use magnetic fields to confine plasma, a gas of electrically charged particles. Turbulent motion can transport heat outward faster than…
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Earthworms are dragging tire rubber into the soil
As earthworms eat soil and decaying leaves, tiny tire-rubber fragments and synthetic fibers can get swallowed along with them. The particles may pass through…
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The ocean's strange snowstorm traps carbon
Marine snow is a steady fall of tiny ocean debris, and some of it carries carbon downward. But most gets eaten or broken apart by animals and microbes before…
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Some Red Sea corals have an unusually large heat buffer
Researchers studying corals from the Gulf of Aqaba found they could tolerate water substantially warmer than their usual summer conditions. These corals and…
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How RNA changes shape to control genes
A bacterial RNA switch can sense when a nutrient is plentiful because the nutrient binds directly to the RNA. That binding makes the RNA fold into a new…
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A Morpho's blue comes from architecture, not blue dye
The blue comes from tiny ridges and layers on the Morpho’s wing, which reflect some wavelengths of light more strongly than others. Tilt the wing, and a…
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This crab farms bacteria on its own arms
The yeti crab Kiwa puravida grows bacteria on the bristles of its claws near seafloor methane seeps. The microbes use chemical energy to make organic matter,…
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Some aerospace materials can seal their own cracks
Heat and oxygen can set off a reaction in certain aerospace composites when a crack exposes ingredients inside. The reaction makes an oxide that can flow into…
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The bacteria that can make it rain
Water in a cloud can stay liquid below the temperature where you might expect ice. A protein on certain bacteria can help water molecules gather into the…
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A meteorite carried dust older than the Sun
Researchers studying grains in the Murchison meteorite found some estimated to be around seven billion years old. Those grains formed around earlier stars,…
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A magnet can make a liquid grow spikes
Ferrofluid contains tiny magnetic particles suspended in a liquid. A magnetic field pulls the surface into peaks, while surface tension resists and helps set…
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How a bacterial toxin can read your DNA
The toxin punches a tiny pore through a membrane, then DNA passes through it one stretch at a time. Each DNA base nudges the electrical current in a slightly…
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Cosmic rays can see inside a volcano
A detector placed near a volcano counts cosmic-ray muons that pass through it. Dense regions absorb more, leaving fewer particles to arrive from that…
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How lightning can create glowing balls
One proposed explanation starts with the ground, not a bolt trapped in midair. Lightning could vaporize silicon-rich soil, and as the hot material cools, its…
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Corals turn neon when heat puts them under threat
Some stressed corals boost colorful pigments after losing their partner algae. The pigments act like a sunscreen, reducing harsh light inside the tissue and…
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Gold particles can turn a laser pulse into a microscopic jolt
In experimental cancer research, gold nanoparticles absorb a short laser pulse and heat nearby liquid into a tiny vapor bubble. Its rapid expansion and…
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