Nova

Koch Foundation

NOVA Science Trust Logo

In Australia's Northern Territory, termites build mounds that are tall, thin, and aligned like compass needles. How and why the insects do this is not entirely clear. One entomologist offers some theories.

Meet some tropical insects whose homes mysteriously point toward the poles.

Ari Daniel

Australia's "Magnetic" Termites

Nature

A person is tested for COVID-19 at a drive-thru testing site in Florida in July 2020. Image Credit: Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto, Getty Images

Figuring out when to get tested after exposure requires understanding what happens once the virus enters your body. We’ve got you covered.

I’ve been exposed to Covid-19. When should I get tested?

A statue of Zheng He at the Sam Poo Kong Temple in Java, Indonesia. Image Credit: Budianto Santosa, Shutterstock

In the 1400s, Zheng He sailed thousands of miles around Asia and Africa in ships the size of soccer fields, spreading Chinese innovations like compasses and gunpowder in the process.

In the 1400s, Zheng He sailed thousands of miles around Asia and Africa in ships the size of soccer fields, spreading Chinese innovations like compasses and gunpowder in the process.

The legendary Chinese seafarer the West overlooks

Canada

Northern Mariana Islands

United States

U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

U.S. Virgin Islands

Guam

American Samoa

Puerto Rico

US, US Territories, Canada

US & Territories

Follow along as NASA launches the Mars 2020 Mission, perhaps the most ambitious hunt yet for signs of ancient life on Mars. In February 2021, the spacecraft blazes into the Martian atmosphere at some 12,000 miles per hour and lowers the Perseverance Rover into the rocky Jezero Crater, home to a dried-up river delta scientists think could have harbored life. Perseverance will comb the area for signs of life and collect samples for possible return to Earth. Traveling onboard is a four-pound helicopter that will conduct a series of test flights—the first on another planet. During its journey, Perseverance will also test technology designed to produce oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, in hopes that the gas could be used for fuel—or for humans to breathe—on future missions. (Premiered February 24, 2021)

NASA launches its most ambitious search yet for traces of ancient life on Mars.

Support Provided By

Related

Jaglavak, Prince of Insects

Animal Magnetism

Other Fish in the Sea