Science & Nature
Which Planet Has Days Longer Than Its Years?
Venus takes 243 Earth days to spin once but only 225 to orbit the Sun. Here is why its day outlasts its year, and how Mercury complicates it.
Fer-de-Lance
Fer-de-Lance, the pit viper behind most snakebites in tropical America, thrives near farms and villages and bears some of the largest litters of any snake.
Inland Taipan
Inland Taipan snakes carry the most potent venom on Earth, enough to kill dozens of adults, yet they are shy desert recluses that have never killed a person.
What The Hubble Tension Could Break In Cosmology
The Hubble Tension is a fundamental conflict in physics regarding the rate of expansion of the universe, with wide-ranging implications.
Timber Rattlesnake
Timber Rattlesnake, a thick, docile pit viper of the eastern US, would rather hide than strike and helps curb Lyme disease by hunting tick-carrying rodents.
Pangolin
Pangolins are the only mammals covered in true scales, shy insect-eaters that roll into a ball for defense and are the most trafficked wild mammal on Earth.
What's the Loudest Sound in Space?
Learn why pressure waves from a black hole 250 million light-years away became known as the loudest sound in space, despite there being no confirmed record.
Russell's Viper
Russell's Viper, one of India's Big Four snakes, lurks in farm fields with potent venom, causing more snakebite deaths than almost any snake in Asia.
Which Planet Rains Diamonds?
Could it really rain diamonds? Discover why scientists think Neptune and Uranus may produce diamond rain deep within their interiors.
Indigo Snake
Hunted rattlesnakes, gopher tortoise burrows, and a comeback underway in Florida and Alabama. Inside the life of the Indigo Snake.
Which Planet Has The Longest Night?
Discover why Uranus and Venus experience extraordinary periods of darkness and what makes their day-night cycles so different from Earth's.
Spitting Cobra
Spitting cobras spray venom several feet into a predator's eyes. Learn where these snakes live, what they eat, and how their aim stays so accurate.
Pygmy Rattlesnake
The pygmy rattlesnake's venom became a life-saving heart drug, and this tiny southeastern pit viper would far rather flee than bite. Meet a misfit rattler.
What Is The Fastest-Moving Planet?
Mercury, the closest planet orbiting the Sun, displays many astonishing qualities, including its dizzying orbital speed.
Beluga Whale
Beluga whales are highly recognizable, thanks to their winning smile. They're also highly intelligent and considered quite friendly.
Massasauga
Massasauga rattlesnake: Michigan's only venomous snake spends its life in wetlands and bogs. Here's its diet, venom, range, and threatened status.
Is There More Than One Universe?
Scientists cannot yet say for sure whether there are multiple universes out there, but string theory and quantum physics suggest there may be.
King Snake
A guide to kingsnakes: taxonomy, range and habitat, diet and hunting, size and markings, behavior, breeding, why they matter, and the threats they face.
Boomslang
The boomslang is a rear-fanged tree snake of sub-Saharan Africa with hemotoxic venom that stops blood from clotting. Learn how dangerous it really is
Kudu
Split among the Greater kudu and lesser kudu, the former brand of these furry quadrupeds are strictly vegetarian, but are among the world's largest antelope.
What's the Heaviest Star Ever Found?
The heaviest star humanity has ever discovered contains the mass of about 230 Suns in a space only about 35 times its diameter.
What Is The Coldest Place In The Solar System?
What is the coldest place in the solar system? Not the farthest world from the Sun, but a permanently shadowed lunar crater. Explore why cold hides in shadow.
The World’s Largest Eagles
Determining which eagles are the biggest in the world requires an examination of mass, length, and wingspan.
Sea Krait
The highly venomous sea krait, found in tropical and subtropical coastal regions, is an evolutionary link to the past, living half in and half out of water.
What Animals Live In The Nile River?
The Nile crocodiles, known for their aggressive nature, are apex predators in the Nile River.
10 Animals With The Strongest Bites
Things like jaw size, teeth shape, and of course, the size and shape of the prey/food all impact the measurement of bite strength.
Spotted Hyena
Africa's spotted hyena is a hunter first, scavenger second. Explore its jaws, female-led clans, range, diet and conservation status.
Which Planet Is The Most Tilted?
Uranus leans at 97.77 degrees, far more than any other planet. See why the seventh world spins on its side and what that does to its seasons.
Why Is Space Black?
Learn why space appears black despite countless stars and how cosmic age and expansion combine with a lack of atmosphere to create darkness.
Does Space Ever Truly End?
See why the observable universe has a horizon and how space may be infinite or finite without ever reaching a physical edge.
Birds That Start With C
Some of the birds whose names begin with C include the crow, the cockatoo, the carrier pigeon, the chicken, the cuckoo, the Canada goose, the chickadee, the cormorant, cockatiel and the canary.
What Animals Live In The Amazon River?
While the Amazon River supports the Amazon rainforest on land, it is also home to a great diversity of aquatic and semi-aquatic fauna.
Brown Bear
Brown bears are one of the largest species of bear, standing tall at 6.5 feet and known for behavior like digging as well as hibernation.
Why JWST Keeps Finding Galaxies That Shouldn't Exist
The construction of the James Webb Space Telescope has led to continuous revelations about the universe, including findings of galaxies that shouldn't exist.
What Would Happen if the Sun Disappeared?
What would happen if the Sun vanished? Explore how Earth’s orbit, temperatures, oceans, and surviving life would change in total darkness forever.
What Is A Cloud Forest?
How cloud forests drink from the clouds, and why Kilimanjaro, Monteverde, Yakushima and the Appalachians all depend on the mist.