An Olympic Showdown: Human versus Bat
Could the tiny vampire bat give Olympic sprinters in Rio a run for their money?
Stories by Lydia Chain
An Olympic Showdown: Human versus Dolphin
Can a hot pink dolphin outswim an Olympic champion?
How Elite Sprinters Run So Fast
Scientists study the stride of Olympic athlete Mike Rodgers
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
Cyber Salamander Scurries like Its Biological Counterpart
X-ray videos of living salamanders in action helped Swiss scientists build Pleurobot, a robot that mimics the amphibian’s characteristic motions.
Why This Scientist Wears a Polar Bear Suit to Work
A costume helps conservation biologist Joel Bergen study how polar bears might affect musk oxen in the Arctic.
Lemurs Issue Musky Memorandums
Male lemurs mix their scented secretions to send long-lasting messages to one another.
Shy Fish Prefer Like-Minded Leaders
When a shy fish ventures into the unknown, it prefers to follow a fish with a similarly cautious personality.
Fluffy Egg-Free Desserts
Vegan bakers discovered chickpea juice acts like an egg white, putting meringues back on the menu.
Battling Bots Get Pushy at the 10th Annual Sumo Robot Match
Engineering students in the mechatronics class at The Cooper Union in Manhattan have a unique final exam—they build sumo robots that fight one another for supremacy.
Good Questions for an Astronaut
International Space Station astronaut Jeff Williams discusses his space-eye view with Nickelodeon TV stars
How Gene Testing Could Help You Find Personalized Painkillers
Genetic testing can be used to personalize prescriptions and dosages.
Frogs Use Semaphore Code in Noisy Environments
Brazilian torrent frogs have a special way to get noticed when loud streams threaten to drown out their calls—they shake a leg.
Mercury's Rare Road Trip
Thirteen times a century, on average, Mercury passes directly between Earth and the sun, creating what astronomers call a transit. It just happened again; this video, created with images from the orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the tiny planet’s silhouette as it makes its seven-hour journey across the solar disk.
Shaking Your Tail Feathers Takes Physics
Male peacocks put on quite a show for their mates, and now scientists understand more of what goes into their wiggles
Researchers Discover a Universal "Not Face"
There is a facial expression that needs no translation.
Birds Benefit When Gators Guard
And so do the alligators—they protect bird nests from egg-stealing raccoons and other predators, but they don’t work for free.
Why Whale Waste Matters
A decline in whales means less whale poop—and disruptions in the ocean's nutrient cycle.
Corrosive Chemistry: How Lead Ended Up in Flint's Drinking Water
When Flint, Mich., switched its water supply, a chemical cascade inside old pipes caused lead to leach into the city's drinking water, triggering a public health emergency.
Sharks Sniff Their Way Home
Plug a shark’s nose, and it’ll have a hard time getting home.
