Hot Extinctions
Warmer temperatures have consistently preceded more extinctions throughout Earth's history.
Himalayan Collision
A high-speed continental cataclysm formed the Himalayas 50 million years ago.
Woolly DNA
Woolly mammoths went extinct thousands of years ago. But now their genetic past is being resurrected through new DNA techniques.
Podcast
Whale-inspired windmills. Tracing the origins of a killer asteroid. Using vowels to sell. And more.
Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid
Scientists have identified the event that probably created the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs.
Fossil Roundup
Fossils from Mongolia reveal that velociraptors had feathers.
Podcast
The mosquito's exquisite sense of smell. How genes affect our odor perception. The cognitive skills of apes and toddlers. New analysis of old fossils leads to surprising discoveries. And how forensic scientists get DNA from blood.
Podcast
A computer with a sense of humor. Frisky foxes. Giant insects of the ancient earth. And more.
Podcast
Dinosaurs and their rivals, a computer that solves checkers, the placebo effect and the brain, keeping fruits and vegetables fresh, and the evolution of walking and talking.
Dinosaur Takeover
New evidence sheds light on the dinosaurs' rise to power.
Useful Bacteria Roundup
Scientists are finding novel ways to put bacteria to good use.
Podcast
Listening to muscles, yoga may stave off depression, a blood-based bandage, a protein inhibits aging in fruitflies, and whether lizards or snakes evolved first.
Podcast
The dinosaur extinction may have been stinky, carbon emission rates may be worse than was thought, wild wheat plants itself, a cow with naturally skim milk, and what sound sounds like on other planets.
Podcast
Grilling could take a toll on your health, smarter doesn't equal richer, an infection could help prevent asthma, a step toward fusion reactors, and the closest living descendants of dinosaurs.
Dino Descendant
A listener asks: What are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs?
Prehistoric Bird Roundup
Two new discoveries shed light on the ancestors of modern birds.
Podcast
Where insects go in winter, winged dinosaurs, fish that cannibalize their young, calculating the value of polio vaccinaton, and mining can cause earthquakes.
Arctic Forests
Scientists haven't yet discovered Santa Claus at the North Pole, but they've found something that they think is just about as surprising.
Neanderthal Roundup
Little is known about the Neanderthals, a close extinct relative of modern humans. But that could be about to change.
Podcast
Your birthday greetings to us, hopeful news about malaria in Africa, robots that can recover from injury, news about Neanderthals, the truth about lie detectors, and money brings out the best and the worst in us.
Extinction Cycles
Changes in the Earth's orbit and tilt could be responsible for the extinctions of many ancient species.
Podcast
A good time to be a dinosaur hunter, how your personality affects your health, electricity could heal wounds, plastics made from DNA, and the fastest body parts in the world.
Dinosaur Diversity
Lots of dinosaurs are still waiting to be discovered.