Mating frenzies, sperm hoards, and brood raids: the life of a fire ant queen | Walter R. Tschinkel

Nobody knows exactly when humans began to create fermented beverages. The earliest known evidence comes from 7,000 BCE in China, where residue in clay pots has revealed that people were making an alco...

2 Jan 20204min

After witnessing the atrocities of his fellow man in World War II, William Golding was losing his faith in humanity. Later, during the Cold War, as superpowers began threatening one another with nucle...

12 Des 20194min

In 1884, an unlucky patient who had a rapidly growing cancer in his neck came down with an unrelated bacterial skin infection. As he recovered from the infection, the cancer surprisingly began to rece...

11 Des 20194min

This is episode 4 of our animated series "Think Like A Coder." This 10-episode narrative follows a girl, Ethic, and her robot companion, Hedge, as they attempt to save the world. The two embark on a q...

9 Des 20195min

During World War I, scientists were trying to develop an antidote to the poisonous yellow cloud known as mustard gas. They discovered the gas was irrevocably damaging the bone marrow of affected soldi...

5 Des 20195min

In 1990, the Italian government enlisted top engineers to stabilize Pisa's famous Leaning Tower. There'd been many attempts during its 800 year history, but computer models revealed the urgency of the...

3 Des 20194min

Corn currently accounts for more than one tenth of our global crop production. And over 99% of cultivated corn is the exact same type: Yellow Dent #2. This means that humans grow more Yellow Dent #2 t...

2 Des 20195min

In 1970, marijuana was classified as a schedule 1 drug in the United States: the strictest designation possible, meaning it was completely illegal and had no recognized medical uses. Today, marijuana'...

2 Des 20196min