The science of apple varieties, from American Beauty to Zestar
Between new crosses and old heritage varieties, there’s a world of apples beyond the Red Delicious. In 2014, we explored how they come to be.
Why are we changing the way we keep time?
Timekeeping scientists around the world voted to stop using leap seconds, but what does this mean for us?
Kazuo Ishiguro on emotional truth in sci-fi and in our AI reality
Five years after “Klara and the Sun” was published, the film adaptation exists in an entirely different AI landscape.
Is that garbage can bear resistant? These bears will find out
In the name of safety, test engineers turn pill bottles over to kids, launch dead chickens through jet engines, and let bears loose on coolers.
Jennifer Doudna on what it takes to be a good scientist
CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna on the evolution of gene-editing technology, her own path, and what it takes to be a good scientist.
Commercial space stations, a Martian moon mission, and more
The latest on commercial space stations, Japan’s mission to bring a sample from a Martian moon, and space-based weapons.
Could a whale swallow a human, ‘Whalefall’ style?
In the new movie “Whalefall,” a scuba diver has a very bad day in the guts of a sperm whale. Could it actually happen?
Why do politicians talk like that?
A linguist weighs in on how “politician speak” has changed over the past century, and what it says about what we want from our leaders.
Sargassum superblooms are choking coastlines around the Atlantic
A free-floating seaweed called sargassum is exploding in the Atlantic Ocean, clogging up coastlines from West Africa to the Caribbean.
Celebrating Ada Lovelace Day and the women who made the internet
For Ada Lovelace Day, our 2018 story about the women who made the internet, with the author of “Broad Band” and the founder of EchoNYC.