Science
Why Some Cultures Frown on Smiling
Finally, an explanation for Bitchy Resting Face Nation
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Projects
What's the Best Planet?
NASA Venus, the Best and Brightest
A historian makes the case for Earth’s closest neighbor.
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NASA JPL The Dreamiest View in the Universe
A stunning new video of Juno’s approach to Jupiter captures an unprecedented glimpse of its moons.
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Ina Fassbender / Reuters Internet Reading Club: June 2016
The best science, technology, and health stories from around the web.
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Lockheed Martin Juno’s Triumphant Night
After completing a high-risk maneuver, NASA’s spacecraft is officially in the gas giant’s orbit—and humankind is closer to Jupiter than ever before.
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NASA / ESA / Hubble Jupiter Puts on a Light Show For Juno
Magnificent auroras light up the Jovian atmosphere as the spacecraft prepares to enter the planet’s orbit.
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ESA / Hubble / NASA The 6,000-Year-Old Telescope
Astronomers say they have discovered an ancient astronomical tool, potentially used by prehistoric humans for stargazing rituals.
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Baloncici / Shutterstock Can Edible Ice-Cream Containers Reinvent Food Packaging?
The environmental cost of boxes, cans, and jars has sparked a movement to change how food is stored.
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Yamini Jangir and Moh El-Naggar / Quanta The Electricity Eaters
Energy-sucking bacteria on rocks beneath the planet’s surface may provide a blueprint for life on other worlds.
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Ross Andersen Alien Worlds Might Be Covered in Enormous Mountains
On the sublime scenery that might await us on exoplanets.
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European Space Agency / Hubble / NASA Want to Find Intelligent Life on Other Planets? Look for Refrigerators
Could Freon in the atmosphere of a distant planet be the thing that finally confirms humankind is not alone?
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Johannes Simon / Getty The Push to Make Pears the New Apples
A horticulturist wants a different fruit to rule America’s grocery aisles.
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Patrick H. Corkery / Lockhead Martin Juno: The Making of a Spacecraft
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Pierre Albouy / Reuters Britain’s Shaky Status as a Scientific Superpower
Researchers say the country’s decision to leave the EU will reverse decades of academic gains.
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Nicolas Pollock / The Atlantic The Quest for Purity Through Peanut Butter
Are products labeled “natural” actually superior?
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albund / shutterstock / Paul Spella / The Atlantic Is Middle America Due For a Huge Earthquake?
In the early 19th century, a series of massive quakes rocked Missouri. Some experts predict that the state could be in for another round of violent shaking, while others warn that a big quake could strike elsewhere in the center of the continent.
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Denis Balibouse / Reuters A Surprising Link Between Zika and Dengue
New research finds some dengue fever antibodies can help neutralize Zika—but they can also make Zika infections worse.
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Does Free Will Really Exist? Your Thoughts
Stephen Cave sparked a ton of reader discussion with his essay “There’s No Such Thing as Free Will,”…
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Russell Boyce / Reuters Testing Drugs on Mini-Yous, Grown in a Dish
By using “organoids,” scientists can work out how people with rare diseases will respond to new medicines.
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Russellstreet / Flickr The Contagious Cancer That Jumped Between Species
It has spread from one clam species to another, and is one of now eight transmissible tumors.
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boscorelli / Shutterstock How Quantum Mechanics Could Be Even Weirder
And what it could mean for the future of computing
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(Hillman Lab / Zuckerman Institute) The Enviably Resilient Young Brain
A novel understanding of how brains grow in response to environments