Latest articles
An Online Safety Game Built for Kids With Down Syndrome
How Cell Messages Could Change the Way We Treat Aging
Ideas & Opinions
Ideas & Opinions
How Neurons Communicate: The Brain’s Lightning-Fast Language
Billions of brain cells trade chemical messages in under a millisecond. Nobel laureate Thomas Südhof explains the vesicles, molecular zippers and calcium sensors that make this lightning-fast conversation possible.
Is the Universe Fine-Tuned for Life? A Cup of Water Says Yes
Physicist Kostya Trachenko showed that how runny a liquid can be is set by fundamental constants – adding a second, separate fine-tuning requirement for life beyond the classic stellar one.
Nobel Prizes Week: This Week in Science (Oct 5-11, 2026)
All three Nobel science prizes, the most distant radio burst ever, Webb’s weather on a failed star, a blood proteome atlas, and the peanut study: the week in science.
Exoplanet Weather: Webb Watches Clouds Shift on a Distant World
Webb watched water clouds thicken and thin on WISE 0855, the coldest known brown dwarf: the first weather report from beyond our solar system.
Fast Radio Bursts, Explained: The Farthest Signal Ever Caught
A millisecond flash of radio waves from 10 billion years ago is the most distant fast radio burst ever seen, and it lit up the invisible matter between galaxies.
Business
Business
Your Supermarket’s Carbon Numbers May Not Be Measured
Almost all of a supermarket’s carbon footprint lies in its supply chain. A new analysis shows how little of the headline number is actually measured — and proposes two fixes.
How Ukrainian Small Businesses Survive Five Years of War
Journalist Victoria Belim-Frolova explains how Ukrainian small businesses, many run by women, adapt to war by shrinking, moving, selling online and holding communities together.
Interviews
Interviews
Van Gujjari: Saving an Oral Language One Recording at a Time
Van Gujjari writer Taukeer Alam on documenting an oral Himalayan language: why recordings beat books, and why communities must consent before their knowledge is shared.
The Train Doodle That Became Wikipedia’s 25th Birthday Mascot
Jonathan Ferreira’s commute doodle became Baby Globe, the official mascot of Wikipedia’s 25th anniversary. Here is how a stylus sketch travelled from a BART train to millions of screens.
Lifestyle
Lifestyle
When Mental Illness Begins: The Ages That Matter Most
About a third of mental disorders begin by age 14 and two-thirds by 25. A look at the largest study of mental illness onset, and why timing support matters.
Ten Minutes of Daily Exercise May Unlock Deeper Sleep
You don’t need long workouts to sleep better. A new study suggests that moving a little every day — even ten minutes — is linked to deeper, more restorative sleep.
Environment
Environment
Microplastics, Explained: The Hidden Chemistry of Tiny Plastic
Microplastics turn chemically active in water, a new Nature study finds — generating reactive molecules that may damage cells. Here is what the science really says, from artery plaque to the reasons to stay calm.
Microplastics, Explained: The Hidden Chemistry of Tiny Plastic
Microplastics turn chemically active in water, a new Nature study finds — generating reactive molecules that may damage cells. Here is what the science really says, from artery plaque to the reasons to stay calm.
Ancient DNA, Modern Bats: The Spotted Bat’s 2,000-Year Story
A bat with polka dots, pink ears and a voice humans can hear. Ancient DNA from a desert cave reveals how the spotted bat survived 2,000 years.
Moon Rocks on Earth: Madagascar’s Anorthosite, Seen From Space
An astronaut photographed a patch of southern Madagascar that looks like the Moon. It is made of the same rock as the lunar highlands.
This Singing Lemur Uses an Opera Singer’s Trick
Madagascar’s indri is the only lemur that sings, and a new study shows it widens its mouth for high notes exactly like a trained soprano.
Art & Culture
Art & Culture
The Shanidar Neanderthal: A 75,000-Year-Old Spear Wound
A 75,000-year-old Neanderthal from Shanidar Cave carries a spear wound through the shoulder blade — possibly the oldest wooden-spear kill ever found.
Mondrian’s Masterpiece Is Public Domain. The Estate Disagrees.
Piet Mondrian’s 1930 Composition II entered the US public domain on January 1, 2026. The estate that manages his rights says otherwise. Here is what the law actually says.
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