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A brown rat peeks out from the grass.
science

What Makes an Animal a Pest? AO Wants to Know.

Animal-human conflict expert Bethany Brookshire explains why we put cats before rats.
Andrew Coletti January 24, 2025
A mother manatee and her baby swim through the water in Crystal River, Florida, where manatees can be found year-round.
science

Florida’s Manatees Are Relative Newcomers, According to Historical Research

These beloved sea cows were barely recorded in the area before the seas warmed in the late 1700s. Now their habitats are at risk.
Richard Luscombe January 6, 2025
A mine shaft elevator that descends some 3 kilometers underground offers scientists a glimpse of ancient Earth.
science

Searching for 'Dark Oxygen' in One of the World's Deepest Mines

A scientist's quest for mysterious sources of underground oxygen may offer clues about the origins of life.
Alice Sun December 23, 2024
At Milovice Nature Reserve in Czechia, tauros cattle have been introduced with other species like horses in a recreated "prehistoric" environment.
science

The Story of the Aurochs Is More Complicated Than We Thought

New research helps us understand how cattle spread across the world.
Andrew Coletti December 12, 2024
Teriyaki chicken as we know it was invented in Seattle, not Japan.
science

Cooking Creatively With J. Kenji López-Alt

The author of "The Food Lab" shares his science-based kitchen techniques and current food quest.
Diana Hubbell December 9, 2024
Cawston, British Columbia

Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory

One of Canada's premier radio observatories sits in a radio-quiet valley outside Penticton.
Because chimpanzees primarily eat fruit, they also ingest a lot of alcohol.
monkeys

The Booze-Soaked Lives of Wild Animals

Not only is alcohol consumed widely in nature, it may have played a role in human evolution.
Andrew Coletti December 3, 2024
These unassuming lichens growing on rocks in Antarctica may have a sexy secret.
science

The Secret Sex Lives of Lichens

Researchers found these dusty clumps of green and brown may be hiding how they get it on.
Roxanne Hoorn November 26, 2024
With chattering squirrels, chirping birds, and often lush vegetation, cemeteries are full of life—including multiple lichen species.
cemeteries

A Cemetery's Immortal Residents and the Scientist Who Studies Them

Lichens growing on gravestones appear immune to aging. What does their life cycle teach us about death?
Kate Golembiewski October 24, 2024
Manzanares, Spain

Paseo del Sistema Solar

A scale model of our Solar System, where physical representations of the Sun and planets have been placed along a route in the local park.
Hagerman, Idaho

Hagerman Fossil Beds

An ordinary rancher stumbled upon one of the world’s largest collections of Pliocene horse fossils.
Dubrovnik, Croatia, was devastated by an earthquake in 1667, as captured in this illustration by Dutch artist Jan Luyken. New research shows that seismic activity is slightly more common in the region than previously thought.
science

How Algae Revealed Ancient Earthquakes in Croatia

Rocky algal rims offer new evidence of Croatia’s seismic past.
Vedrana Simičević October 14, 2024
Millican, Oregon

Pine Mountain Observatory

In the high desert east of Bend, the University of Oregon maintains a research observatory on a remote mountain peak.
Shrewsbury, England

Charles Darwin Statue

Standing at the site of his former school, this sculpture celebrates Darwin's groundbreaking contributions to science and his deep connection to his birthplace.
The smell of baking pretzels at an Auntie Anne's is an inescapable part of their branding.
science

How Chain Restaurants Use Smells to Entice Us

When it comes to marketing food, scent can be as important as flavor.
Andrew Coletti September 26, 2024
The mummies of Tarim Basin are up to 3,600 years old.
mummies

This Mummy Cheese Is Full of Ancient Secrets

The world's oldest known cheese holds the key to kefir's mysterious origins.
Roxanne Hoorn September 25, 2024
The blood Voltaire drank came from a bull on his country estate in Ferney, France, now called Ferney-Voltaire.
science

Why Voltaire Drank Bull’s Blood

Bull’s blood isn’t poisonous; so why did people think it was for centuries?
Andrew Coletti September 5, 2024
Our planet frequently gets dinged with smaller, harmless asteroids like RW1. Planetary defense systems able to detect them should also be able to spot bigger threats.
meteorites

Asteroid 2024 RW1 Just Hit Earth. That's a Good Thing.

The asteroid that exploded over Luzon was not a threat—but it was a victory for our planetary defense systems.
Robin George Andrews September 5, 2024