On the ocean floor, at a depth that not even sunlight can reach, volcanoes are spewing precious minerals at temperatures reaching 750 degrees Fahrenheit. These hydrothermal vents somehow also provide the opportunity for life. The vents release iron, zinc, copper, lead, and cobalt, and a whole host of strange sea creatures call them home. More…

Europe’s biggest source of renewable energy is actually terrible for the environment. We’re not talking about wind, solar, or hydroelectric power here. The biggest renewable in Europe is wood pellets. Burning wood — technically labeled a “renewable” resource since more trees can be replanted and they’ll absorb carbon from the air — is the European…

Each one of us will shuffle off this mortal coil at some point. What happens next is a fascinating — if frightening — natural process. After your heart stops beating, your body slowly begins to decay without preservation techniques like embalming or mummification. It starts small, down at the cellular level. Then bacteria, animals, and…

The category of tropical storm a hurricane is in as it makes landfall actually makes a big difference on the amount of damage it could inflict.   For historical context, Hurricane Katrina reached a Category 5 storm out at sea, but hit New Orleans as a Category 3. Similarly, Hurricane Sandy was technically a post-tropical…

Gwyneth Paltrow and her publication,Goop, have been sharing her celebrity lifestyle since the site launched in 2008. It’s jealousy-inducing for some, while others have complained that it’s totally “out of touch.” But when it comes to health tips, the site is full of dodgy information, with unfounded warnings about things that are safe — like bras and sunscreen — and…

Animals: They are just like us. They love to eat and drink. Mostly because it keeps them alive. Some have some pretty out-there adaptations to make this happen. For one, animal tongues can get pretty weird. Some are longer than the animal itself, some are as heavy as elephants, and some even wrap around the…

“Genetically modified” (GM) can technically refer to the majority of fruits and vegetables found in supermarkets today. Humans have been genetically modifying plants since we first started domesticating and breeding them to look and taste the way we wanted them to. By combining plants with desirable traits, we have altered their DNA over millennia in…

It may be time to ditch the annual physical. Studies have shown it isexpensive for the health care system, has few benefits, and can actually be harmful for patients without any symptoms, since many routine tests yield false positives. Evidence for getting rid of the yearly check-up has been building for years, and two doctors published…

Hannah Herbst, an eighth grader in Boca Raton, Florida, just became America’s Top Young Scientist. The 14-year-old designed and built a small turbine she calls BEACON, for Bringing Electricity Access to Countries Through Ocean Energy Collection. “Shortly after school began,” Herbst wrote in a blog post for the contest, “I received a letter from my…

Thousands of people in China saw what looked like a giant, floating city in early October, spurringconspiracy theories involving holograms or a window into a parallel universe. While thoses theories were obviously false, there’s actually some cool science that explains how people saw an entire city as a mirage floating in the sky. It has to do with physics…