The Science Life

  1. Space

    A telescope dropped dark matter data from the edge of space. Here’s why

    Last May, NASA’s Super Pressure Balloon Imaging Telescope crash-landed in rural Argentina. Scientists scrambled to recover the dark matter data aboard.

    By
  2. Animals

    This bird hasn’t been seen in 38 years. Its song may help track it down

    Using bioacoustics, South American scientists are eavesdropping on a forest in hopes of hearing the song of the long-missing purple-winged ground dove.

    By
  3. Science & Society

    Reindeer herders and scientists collaborate to understand Arctic warming

    Siberian reindeer herders and scientists are working together to figure out how to predict rain-on-snow events that turn tundra into deadly ice.

    By
  4. Math

    An enduring Möbius strip mystery has finally been solved

    Playing with paper and scissors helped one mathematician figure out just how short the twisted loops can be.

    By
  5. Planetary Science

    How drones are helping scientists find meteorites

    Searching for fallen space rocks is labor intensive. A team of researchers in Australia is speeding things up with drones and machine learning.

    By
  6. Animals

    Some African birds follow nomadic ants to their next meal

    Specialized interactions between birds and driver ants in Africa could help explain why the birds are especially sensitive to forest disturbances.

    By
  7. Archaeology

    Indigenous input revealed early hints of fiber making in the tropics

    To decipher marks on nearly 40,000-year-old stone tools and figure out what they were used for, researchers turned to the Philippines’ Pala’wan people.

    By
  8. Tech

    How understanding horses could inspire more trustworthy robots

    Computer scientist Eakta Jain pioneered the study of how human-horse interactions could help improve robot design and shape human-robot interactions.

    By
  9. Plants

    A hunt for fungi might bring this orchid back from the brink

    Identifying the fungi that feeds the Cooper’s black orchid in the lab may allow researchers to bank seeds and possibly regrow the species in the wild.

    By
  10. Animals

    This marine biologist is on a mission to save endangered rays

    Jessica Pate and the Florida Manta Project confirm that endangered mantas are mating and sicklefin devils are migrating along the East Coast.

    By
  11. Plants

    Ultrasound reveals trees’ drought-survival secrets

    Scientists used ultrasound sensors and electrical probes to reveal how drought affects the tissues of living trees.

    By
  12. Math

    Here’s a peek into the mathematics of black holes

    The universe tells us slowly rotating black holes are stable. A nearly 1,000-page proof confirms it.

    By