January 31, 2025
When a fire burns in an urban area, it unleashes a slurry of chemicals. Scientists are trying to untangle the chemistry at play. Plus, early analysis of asteroid samples from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission shows the residue of an icy brine and a soup of amino acids. And, on the heels of some big quantum computing advances last year, what’s next in 2025?
Geek My Pumpkin
Maniac Pumpkin Carvers Marc and Chris carve hundreds of pumpkins each fall, which go for a few hundred bucks and rarely end up on stoops. They gave us some tips for how to bring our pumpkins to the next level this Halloween.
The Secret to Making Ultrastrong ‘Gorilla Glass’
Gorilla Glass isn’t unbreakable. But it’s twice as durable as regular glass—at half the thickness.
Feds to Debate Marijuana as Medicine
A federal appeals court is set to hear the scientific case for marijuana’s therapeutic effects.
Tracking the Ozone Hole, as It Waxes and Wanes
The Antarctic ozone hole reaches its largest size by late September—but then it disappears again.
Enter an Optical Illusion
Gravity doesn’t behave as expected in a new art exhibition in New York City.
Fifty Years Ago, a Bright Idea
Inventor Nick Holonyak describes the creation of the visible light-emitting diode, or LED.
2012 Nobel Prizes Recognize Pioneering Science
This year’s Nobel laureates changed our understanding of our bodies and the world around us.
Curiosity Rover Gets the ‘Scoop’ on Mars
Did the rover shed a piece of plastic while collecting its first scoop of Martian soil?
Step Into an Optical Illusion
In Demon Hill, the rules of gravity don’t apply as you expect them to. Down is not down, exactly. The room, created by Los Angeles artist Julian Hoeber and on display at the Harris Lieberman Gallery in New York, is modeled on a stock roadside attraction.
Starfish Blamed For Great Barrier Reef Coral Loss
Crown-of-thorns starfish are partly to blame for the Great Barrier Reef’s alarming loss of coral cover.
What Your Genes Can Tell You About Your Memory
Researchers are studying how gene regulation influences memory.
How Astronomers Measured The Edge Of A Black Hole
The black hole resides at the center of a galaxy located 50 million light-years from Earth.
From Stem Cells to Eggs (and Beyond)
Stem cells can be turned into heart, liver, and brain cells—but what about a whole new organism? A study in Science explains the transformation from stem cell to egg to mouse pup.
Why Online Maps Sometimes Lose Their Way
Mapping streets is easy. The trick is pinning down businesses and giving accurate turn-by-turn directions.
This Beetle Puts the ‘Extreme’ in Extremity
The horn of a Japanese rhinoceros beetle (Trypoxylus dichotomus) can grow to be two-thirds the length of the rest of its body. And size matters.
Analyzing the Evidence on DNA
“All DNA evidence is not created equal,” says Greg Hampikian, Director of the Idaho Innocence Project. He’ll tell us why DNA ‘evidence’ sometimes leads to the wrong conclusion.
Fires and Invasive Grass Threaten American West
Cheatgrass, an invasive weed, chokes out native sagebrush—and sets the stage for massive blazes.
Ice Age Co-Stars: Horses, Camels, and Cheetahs
Move over mammoths—many lesser-known beasts roamed North America during the Ice Age too.
The Biology of Birds of Prey
We’ll check in with biologists studying American kestrels, prairie falcons, red-tailed hawks, and other raptors that nest in Idaho’s Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area. Plus, bringing back the California condor.