Cheetahs sprint across the savanna. Impalas, antelopes and other prey gallop away. All these creatures were built for speed. In fact, mid-sized land animals are generally faster than huge or…

Annalisa Stevenson loves soil. Most of us ignore it as dirt. But soil is “literally the foundation of life,” notes this Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She considers…

A round of applause, please. Scientists have finally figured out what’s behind the sound of hand-clapping. It’s the same concept at work when you make sound by blowing across the…

In fourth grade, Logan Lee’s class took a trip to the island of Hawaii. There, they saw an i’iwi, a native Hawaiian forest bird. Logan was in awe. The bird…

Vitamin (noun, “VITE-ah-men”) Vitamins are carbon-containing chemicals that living things must consume in small amounts to live. Our body can create many molecules crucial for life. DNA is one example.…

Researchers have stumbled upon one of nature’s weirder disguises — fly larvae with butts that mimic termite faces. Features on their rear end look like a termite’s antennae, eyes and…

Throughout the living and tech world, lenses focus light to improve the resolution of images. In our eyes, these curved structures are made of cells. Plastic or glass lenses have…

Some endings are easy to predict. Throw a ball in the air and it will fall back down. Run off a diving board and you’ll land in a pool. Stick…

Don’t scratch that mosquito bite! Chances are you’ve heard this advice before — and had a hard time following it. So you may already know that scratching can feel good…