Biology
Bribery and Double-Crossing among Peruvian Insects
Young inga trees give ants nectar in exchange for guard duty against ravenous caterpillers—but sometimes the ants get a better offer
Stories by Lydia Chain
The Sciences
Math Puts a New Twist on Solving a Rubik's Cube with the Fewest Moves
For this puzzle with over 43 quintillion permutations, author Ian Scheffler explains how players have found the most efficient route to resolving a Rubik’s cube.
The Sciences
Solving the Rubik's Equation
Author and “Speedcuber” Ian Scheffler reveals some of the math behind how you could solve the Rubik’s cube puzzle.
Biology
The Scoop on Termite Poop [Video]
It carries valuable clues about how to deal with these horrible home-wreckers
Why Global Warming Is Like a Scorching Dinner
Once the plate or the planet gets too hot it takes forever to cool down, explains ClimateAdam—and in both cases, that's a problem
Weirder Than Science Fiction: How Sea Urchins Reproduce
You can't make this stuff up
The Fly Larva That Thinks It's a Stonemason
Caddisfly larvae build themselves a protective house of stones with some of the stickiest sticky tape on Earth
Biology
An Olympic Showdown: Human versus Ant
Could the fungus-farming leaf-cutter ant take on an Olympic weightlifter?
Biology
An Olympic Showdown: Human versus Bat
Could the tiny vampire bat give Olympic sprinters in Rio a run for their money?
Biology
An Olympic Showdown: Human versus Dolphin
Can a hot pink dolphin outswim an Olympic champion?
Biology
Every Skin Cell of This Fish Glows a Different Color
The newly engineered zebra fish could help scientists better understand how skin cells react to injury
Space & Physics
Gravitational Waves Are the Ringing of Spacetime
The universe is a noisy place, but we didn’t always have the right ears to hear the sounds—until now.
Health
Vast Majority of Life-Saving Cord Blood Sits Unused
High costs keep patients from using stem cells harvested from umbilical cords
