WHO KNEW?
How A Volcanic Eruption Helped Create Modern Scotland
Eruption-induced cooling likely exacerbated the "Scottish ills" of the late 1690s.
WATCH YOUR BACK (OF THE HEAD)
Scientists Can Now Identify Someone From A Single Strand Of Hair
Heavily shedding criminals, beware.
ICE ICE MAYBE
Our Oldest Ice Core Could Solve The Mystery Of 'Flipped' Ice Age Cycles
Researchers endured bitter winds to collect some ancient ice that could actually tell us a lot about climate patterns.
REAL-LIFE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE
How The World's Largest Geode Grew To Half The Size Of A Small Bedroom
Most geodes — hollow, crystal-lined rocks — can fit in the palm of your hand. But the giant Pulpi Geode, which is about half the size of a small bedroom, fills part of an abandoned mine in southeastern Spain.
INEQUALITY IN THE AFTERLIFE
Why Are Adult Daughters Missing From Ancient German Cemeteries?
DNA and artifacts reveal marriage and inheritance patterns among Bronze Age farmers
DARK MATTERS
'Planet Nine' May Actually Be A Black Hole
For nearly 5 years, growing numbers of scientists have blamed the weird orbits of distant solar system objects on the gravitational effects of an as-yet-undiscovered "Planet Nine" that lies in the icy realm far beyond Neptune. But what if that supposed planet is actually a small black hole?
FRAGGLE ROCK
Machu Picchu Was Built Over Major Fault Zones. Now, Researchers Think They Know Why
Archaeologists and architects alike have long wondered why 15th century Incans built the grand citadel of Machu Picchu in what is now Peru where they did, high in the remote Andes atop a narrow ridge.
Can The World Make The Chemicals It Needs Without Oil?
Black, gooey, greasy oil is the starting material for more than just transportation fuel.
DON'T SAY A WORD
The Untold Story Of The 'circle Of Trust' Behind The World's First Gene-edited Babies
Because the Chinese government has revealed little and He Jiankui is not talking, key questions about his actions are hard to answer.
INTERROGATING INTERROGATION
This Psychologist Explains Why People Confess To Crimes They Didn't Commit
False confessions are not rare: More than a quarter of the 365 people exonerated in recent decades by the nonprofit Innocence Project had confessed to their alleged crime.
COLD DISCOMFORT
Why 536 Was 'the Worst Year To Be Alive'
Ask medieval historian Michael McCormick what year was the worst to be alive, and he's got an answer: "536." Not 1349, when the Black Death wiped out half of Europe. Not 1918, when the flu killed 50 million to 100 million people, mostly young adults. But 536.
THIS INDUSTRY IS SICK
Hidden Conflicts? Pharma Payments To FDA Advisers After Drug Approvals Spark Ethical Concerns
Science investigation of journal disclosures and pharmaceutical funding records shows potential influence on physician gatekeepers.
THE UNIVERSAL 'FEED ME'
Chimpanzees, bonobos, and even humans may share ancient body language
Numerous gestures between the animals appear to have the same meaning.
REMEMBER THE RULES AT ALAMOS
A near-disaster at a federal nuclear weapons laboratory takes a hidden toll on America's arsenal
Repeated safety lapses have hobbled Los Alamos National Laboratory's work on the cores of US nuclear warheads.
TAKE THAT, ATHENS
It wasn't just Greece: Archaeologists find early democratic societies in the Americas
Unlike a candidate today, the candidate in the ancient Mesoamerican city of Tlaxcallan would be starved, beaten with spiked whips when he fell asleep, and required to cut himself in bloodletting rituals before he could join the government.
FELL FAR FROM THE TREE
Humans are still evolving-and we can watch it happen
Large genomic databases are allowing researchers to see our traits evolve.
GETTING HIGH
Two weeks in the mountains can change your blood for months
New findings on how the body adapts to high altitude could lead to reductions in altitude sickness among vacationers to mountain destinations around the world.
UPSIDE DOWN
It's official: You're lost in a directionless universe
The cosmos has no special direction that might be used to define a universal "up," according to a new study.
LET SLEEPING LIZARDS LIE
Do sleeping dragons dream?
REM-like sleep may have originated much earlier than thought.
ONE FOR THE RESEARCH LOGS
Why watching comb jellies poop has stunned evolutionary biologists
No buts about it, the butthole is one of the finest innovations in the past 540 million years of animal evolution. Now, several unprecedented videos of gelatinous sea creatures called comb jellies, or ctenophores, threaten to upend the standard view of the evolution of the so-called through-gut.