The giant yellow spiders set to invade the eastern seaboard of North America are… not as scary as the internet is making them seem. Plus, the Smithsonian is returning a number of artworks to Nigeria. And President Biden is c…
One of the most famous shipwrecks has finally been discovered at the bottom of a sea in Antarctica. Plus, why the letter “Z” has become a Russian pro-war symbol. And, post-punk Alvin and the Chipmunks.
Giving all new meaning to “taking a leaf out of their book,” medieval literature scholars have adopted ecological models to quantify lost works of fiction. Plus, what if you could create diamonds out of thin air? And, had a …
After two years, why have some of us never gotten COVID? Plus, the surprisingly artistic and wonderful Squirrel Census. And a volcanic rock in Japan rumored to contain a thousand-year-old demonic spirit has just been found s…
Is it possible for ocean cleanup programs to do more harm than good? And how might offices, cities, and the nature of work itself change if––as looks increasingly likely––many office jobs never return to fully on-site work. …
A look at how the design of Gotham City has changed throughout each incarnation of Batman, reflecting the soul and vengeance of the caped crusader. Plus, the technicolor array of blood throughout the animal kingdom. And, you…
175 nations have agreed to craft a legally binding treaty to reel in the world’s out-of-control plastic problem. Plus, remember that rocket booster no one is taking responsibility for? It’s still hitting the moon on Friday. …
Is the tyrannosaurus rex going to be broken up into three species? Plus, we’ve talked a lot about meat alternatives, but now it’s time for: dairy milk alternatives. No, not oat or almond. Actual dairy milk but without the us…
That thing you’re looking at right now, it’s already fifteen seconds in the past. Plus, new findings from Apple and Harvard’s giant period-tracking study. And, before emerging as a wartime president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy had …
The meme accounts behind some of the spread of misinformation already this week, as well as some guidance for seeking out and sharing accurate information. Plus, seals that are being recruited by scientists to spy on whales.…
The too-little-known story of the creation of the whooping cough vaccine. Plus, the remarkable initiatives in Taiwan that are helping keep the country clean with a little help from Beethoven. A new Netflix docuseries that us…
Why does Google still have the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button? And what do the ways Google Search has changed mean for us as a society? Plus, a proposed global library of underwater audio with a perfect name, and what fish are u…
The mysteries of people with super color vision. Plus, a Hot Jupiter that rains gems. And Hank the Tank, the furry 500 pound dumpster diving home invader taking California by storm.
Hundreds of birds dropped from the sky in northern Mexico. Why it happened and two brothers in India who heal birds who have suffered a similar fate. Plus: wrestler. Poet. Mattress King? The semi-true extracurriculars of Abr…
How a medieval hatred of indexes mirrors debates today about how search engines are changing our brains. Plus, a round-up of the unceasing Wordle news and spin-offs. A thousand Porsches are on fire in the middle of the Atlan…
The history and the science of luge, bobsledding, and skeleton. Plus, a new study has found that the US’s corn-based ethanol is worse for the climate than regular gasoline. And a bit of a pop culture round-up, including some…
A new startup that is working on making steaks and chicken breasts out of thin air. Plus, the first woman has seemingly been cured of HIV. And Disney is developing a new round of residential communities around the US.
Uncovering the story behind two anonymous people whose photographs serve as instructions on the high five Wikipedia entry. Plus, people apparently find AI-generated faces more trustworthy than real human ones. And the Idaho …
Speed skiing, synchronized skating, ski ballet, and other rejected sports from the Olympics. Plus, remember that SpaceX rocket stage headed for the moon? Turns out it’s a different piece of rocket junk, not from SpaceX at al…
MoviePass is back and it wants to track your eyeballs. Plus, who would win in a real-world animal showdown: a ram or a Bengal tiger? NASA has released the first images of a star taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. And t…
A possible third planet has been spotted orbiting Proxima Centauri. Plus, a new record has been set by a nuclear fusion lab in the UK. And, just in time for the holiday, a brief history of Valentine’s Meat Juice.
The mysterious century-old sponges somehow surviving on a dead underwater mountain near the North Pole. Plus, doctors in Canada can now prescribe patients annual passes to National Parks. And SpaceX is set to lose 40 of the …
Is a national digital currency coming to the US? And what would that look like? Plus, coders have teamed up with scholars of British literature to decode Charles Dickens’s secret notes. And the very clever wine bricks from t…
Micromorts, the unit of measurement that predicts your risk of death. How effective are they and how could we make it more effective, especially with regards to the pandemic? Plus, why Washington state is building highway ov…