Basic Research

How conservative ‘supersharers’ drove fake news in the 2016 election

By Vicky Stein

Silver lining: That means most people were not being inundated with fake news.

How the shutdown might end, according to game theory

By Nsikan Akpan

We can find some clues to how the shutdown might end in game theory, which uses math to map out how players and their strategies evolve in the real world.

300 million years ago, our ancestors walked tall. This robot shows you how

By Vicky Stein

The fictional Sherlock Holmes could read footprints — in soil, snow, carpet, dust and even blood. Researchers today are similarly using tracks caught in stone — plus a robot — to recreate a creature that lived 300 million years ago.

Why these sea slugs look so much like David Bowie

By Vicky Stein

By drawing comparisons between sea slugs and Ziggy Stardust, the Bowiebranchia blog exposes the wild, beautiful and competitive evolution of both.

With the government shutdown, American scientific progress is disrupted

Even scientists who don’t work for the government, but receive federal money for research and grants, are among the hundreds of thousands of Americans affected by the government shutdown, now in its 19th day. That means important work and research…

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How your brain stops you from taking climate change seriously

By Nsikan Akpan

...and how to fix it.

What China hopes to gain from unprecedented lunar mission

China has become the first country to land a probe on the far side of the moon, in territory previously untouched. The move signals China’s intent to broaden space exploration for purposes of both military achievement and scientific discovery. Miles…

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What to do with all of your holiday trash

By Jamie Leventhal

Many Americans will toss their mountainous pile of holiday waste into the recycling bin, which can do more harm than good. Here's how to properly dispose of holiday wrappings, decorations and Christmas lights.