
The 10 Weirdest Things in the Solar System
Pierogi moons, rubber duckie comets and spewing ice balls: We have some very strange neighbors among the myriad planets, moons and objects that circle our sun.
Lydia Chain is a freelance science journalist, podcaster, and videographer. She hosts Undark's podcast, and also writes about nature, the environment, and evolution, especially when it involves the intersection of humans and wild spaces or animals behaving strangely. Follow Lydia Chain on Twitter @lydiachain
Pierogi moons, rubber duckie comets and spewing ice balls: We have some very strange neighbors among the myriad planets, moons and objects that circle our sun.
Researchers use eye-tracking software to peek inside a child's mind when words fail, reading eye patterns to understand language production and combat conditions such as specific language impairment...
Kea parrots have a special call that makes nearby parrots burst into play.
For thousands of years people have struggled to pin down pi. Watch how mathematicians from Archimedes on have wrapped their heads around the math of circles.
Many social animals start to feel itchy after watching one of their fellows scratch, and scientists now have a better understanding of why an itch can spread through a group.
Could the drummer robot lead its cyber brethren to march in sync—or maybe someday even start a band?
It's embedded with tiny, spiky structures that let the animal both comb its fur and lap up water
A baker’s half-dozen of Earth-size worlds is orbiting a (relatively) nearby star—and some could be habitable
New studies suggest lonely planets flying through intergalactic space were formed by star-destroying supermassive black holes.
Human suitors may woo with red wine and roses, but these jumping spiders come courting with fancy dress and choreography. Now scientists know more about how spiders perceive their admirers' flamboyant displays...
Nobel laureate Robert Wilson discusses how a network of telescopes might illumine a black hole, after the 92nd Street Y’s Bang! Bang! event.
Ig Nobel Prize creator Marc Abrahams shows off this unusual disaster-preparedness device before a night discussing humor and science at the 92nd Street Y.
Scientists discovered a frog’s ability to nab an insect in a fraction of a second depends on the fluid mechanics of its spit.
You think it's just a beverage, but it's a whole lot more
There is still good reason to think undiscovered fundamental particles act as gravitational glue for galaxies.
In a Christmas tradition, the defense organization NORAD helps us keep track of Santa as he zips around the world delivering toys.
This myth has been debunked many times—but rarely in such a fun way
Take a light-speed trip through the solar system to catch up on 2016’s biggest stories from our celestial neighborhood. Produced with support from Explore Scientific
When polls try to tease out what a group of people is thinking, what are they measuring and how can they go wrong?
Scientists used special microphones to let us listen in on a tickled rat’s titters.
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