Dark lightning (noun, “Dark LITE-ning”) Dark lightning refers to bursts of gamma radiation that can occur during thunderstorms. Gamma radiation — made up of gamma rays — is a kind…

Spinning, hoop-slinging robots are revealing the physics of a favorite toy — the Hula-Hoop. Scientists found that those robots had to have a particular shape in order to hula-hoop. And…

It’s the day of a big test. Your heart is pounding. Your palms are sweating. Your breathing quickens and your stomach suddenly feels full of butterflies. Although these stress responses…

At first glance, it’s a simple scene. Six adult bison and a calf mill around a stream. But if you look closer, the plot thickens. Beside a well-worn path to…

You’re practicing a new song on piano. One part keeps tripping you up. No matter how many times you try it, your fingers just won’t move fast enough. Then you…

Addison Shea, 18, is fascinated by how changing Earth systems affect the creatures living in them. So when she came across an article about a puzzling change in an Arctic…

Static electricity is all around us. It’s the reason clothes stick together when pulled out of the drier. It powers the lightning strikes that zip through storm clouds. It’s also…

Pluto and its largest moon’s meet-cute may have started with a kiss. New research shows the dwarf planet and Charon may have paired up in a “kiss-and-capture” collision. That’s when…

Caecilian (noun, “suh-SEE-lee-uhn”) Caecilians are a group of worm-shaped amphibians. Caecilian means “blind ones” in Latin. The name fits: many species of caecilians lack eyes altogether. Those with them have…

Our brain’s memory center has a sleek design, new data show. The finding comes from looking at living human hippocampus tissue. This part of the brain plays a key role…