A few years ago, Casey Harrell was diagnosed with a devastating brain disease. Known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, it left him paralyzed and unable to speak. But last…

Octopuses are about as strange as any fictional aliens we might dream up. Each of these soft-bodied cephalopods has eight arms attached to its head. And each of those arms…

Dopamine (noun, “DOPE-uh-meen”) Dopamine is a chemical messenger in the brain. It helps you learn and focus and even motivates you to achieve your goals. Though related to feelings of…

When you turn on a faucet, water flows one way: out into the sink, then down the drain. That one-way flow is important. If the flow reversed, clean water might…

Two years ago, a couple of high-school classmates each composed a mathematical marvel. It was a trigonometric proof of the Pythagorean theorem. Now, at age 19, they’ve just reported finding…

In the guts of a new type of computer, a bunch of tiny LEDs emit a green glow. Those lights have a job to do. They’re performing calculations. Right now,…

This is another in a year-long series of stories identifying how the burgeoning use of artificial intelligence is impacting our lives — and ways we can work to make those impacts as beneficial…

When baby Atlantic puffins in Iceland venture out of the cliffside burrows where they had hatched, they look for the light of the moon. It will guide them to the…

Objective: To measure how much mass eggshells can support Areas of science: Materials science Difficulty: Medium intermediate Time required: 2–5 days Prerequisites: None Material availability: Readily available Cost: $20–50 Safety:…