Space
The Apollo astronauts left mirrors on the Moon, and every night since, observatories have been bouncing lasers off them to measure the…
Jul 10, 2026
2026
Every article published in 2026. 2,336 articles · Back to full archive
Life
Pando, a single quaking aspen in Utah, is one organism made of roughly 47,000 genetically identical stems sharing one root system across…
Jul 10, 2026
Science
In September 1928, Alexander Fleming returned from holiday to find a mold-contaminated Staphylococcus plate with a clear bacteria-free halo
Jul 10, 2026
Science
The Voyager Golden Record carries a small sample of uranium on its cover, placed there so that whoever finds it can measure the decay and…
Jul 10, 2026
Life
The story of edible 3,000-year-old tomb honey is poorly documented, but honey really does resist spoilage
By Brendan Brown · Jul 10, 2026
Earth & Environment
Mauna Kea rises more than 10,200 metres from its submarine base, taller base-to-summit than Everest’s elevation above sea level
Jul 10, 2026
Space
In 1962, a missing overbar in Mariner 1’s guidance code helped send America’s Venus probe off course, forcing range safety to destroy an…
Jul 10, 2026
Science
When Sergei Korolev, the chief designer behind Sputnik and Gagarin's flight, died on the operating table in 1966, the Soviet Union finally…
Jul 9, 2026
Technology
Why a small cumulus cloud can contain about 500 tonnes of water
Jul 9, 2026
Life
Greenland sharks can live more than 400 years, which means some of the ones cruising the North Atlantic today were already swimming when…
Jul 9, 2026
Science
Four startup reactors hit criticality by July 4 to beat a Trump deadline
Jul 9, 2026
Space
Something four degrees from the heart of the Milky Way switched on and off six times in radio waves across nine months in 2020, showed…
Jul 9, 2026
Space
Why the Sun often looks yellow from Earth even though its combined visible light is white
By Brendan Brown · Jul 9, 2026
Life
The oldest known piece of Earth is a crystal barely wider than a hair, found in the hills of Western Australia
By Brendan Brown · Jul 9, 2026