You wouldn’t know this teensy speck was a robot if you saw it. At less than a millimeter across, you might not notice it at all. But the itty-bitty machine…

Cave popcorn (noun, “kayv POP-korn”) Cave popcorn is a kind of cave formation. These knobby clusters of minerals decorate cave walls and ceilings. They can also cover other cave formations,…

Throughout history, hunters have coated their dart tips and arrowheads with poison to make them even more deadly. Our prehistoric ancestors, it seems, devised this strategy surprisingly early. A fresh…

Most social media companies claim they require their sites’ users to be at least 13 years old. But no surprise, younger kids use the sites, too. In fact, a majority…

Who’s your favorite brain rot? Maybe it’s Tralalero Tralala, a shark wearing three sneakers. Or Tung Tung Tung Sahur, a log holding a baseball bat. These ridiculous AI-generated characters show…

For most of us, tech is a regular part of our daily lives. With a few clicks, it can bring us welcome information, entertainment and access to friends or like-minded…

Mechanical engineer Juan Espinoza’s work in agriculture runs deep. In the 1990s, his parents immigrated to California from Mexico. With little formal education, the only work available to them at…

Humans may not be the only primates with the power to imagine. A bonobo named Kanzi recently showed that he could keep track of make-believe juice and grapes during a…

Bolide (noun, “BOH-lyde”) A bolide is a bright meteor. Usually, this word describes meteors that explode in the atmosphere. A bolide’s extreme brightness sets it apart from other meteors. Astronomers…