Surprising Science

A new study finds that by having a plan B, we may unintentionally sabotage our initial plan.  

SETI researchers have found a major radio telescope signal and are trying to nail down where it’s from.

Alien life may be so different from us that we wouldn’t even recognize it as life.

In Netflix’s “Stranger Things” characters enter a parallel dimension. Could this actually happen?   

Sleep psychologist Shelby Harris reviews ideas about what dreams may be.

Plants can even ward off invaders through “Earth’s natural internet.”  

An intriguing new study inspires a psychotherapist to blame strict parents for creating little liars. But is she right? 

China’s new satellite is going to attempt to create uncrackable encryption using quantum mechanics.

Move over, cigarettes: ramen is the new king of prison currency. A new study for the American Sociological Association found that inmates are using the cheap food as currency.

Scientists are concerned that the results of studies using mice may be affected by gut bacteria.

Future clothing will make you look dazzling with amazing special effects.   

The placebo effect is real. Why don’t many people agree?

Professor Patrick McGovern, a world authority on ancient alcoholic beverages, describes how alcohol had a profound effect on early societies.

Radioactive crystals left behind by ancient bacteria tell us about a long-ago supernova nearby.

The director of the National Museum of Natural History offers an under-three-minute joyride through the history of life on earth.

Silver medalists are likely less happy than Bronze medalists, because our minds have a tendency to dwell on “what could have been.”

Danish scientists use a new dating technique to find startling estimates for the age of the world’s longest-living vertebrate species.

The Perseid meteor shower is at its peak—a stellar show that occurs every August and can be seen by anyone living in the Northern Hemisphere. But what if we didn’t have to wait till August or the next meteor shower–what if we could create our own?

Clinical psychologist Steven Hayes explains how embracing your anxieties keeps them from overwhelming you in panic attacks.

NYC health officials estimate that fine particulate matter, often inhaled while biking or running in the city, contributes to nearly 2,000 premature deaths and more than 6,000 hospital visits per year.

More helpful inhabitants call our bodies home than previously known.   

Science can’t seem to disprove the giant alien megastructure some have proposed as an explanation for Tabby’s star, AKA, the WTF star, AKA KIC 8462852.

A first-ever full-body transplant will be performed by controversial Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero who became famous when he enlarged on plans to remove the heads of two people.

Why do so many of us fall for the quick-fixes and dieting fads to lose weight, which only leave us disappointed and a little poorer?

The study was conducted by Cambridge researchers.

Linguist Noam Chomsky presents two very basic questions about language that are still open for debate.

For some unknown reason, rare corpse flower blooms are occurring across the U.S.

Artists, illustrators, and adventurers of the 1800s has fantastical imaginations for the distant future, i.e. our present day. How do their magical predictions stack up against our reality?

According to neuroscience, fear is killing us.

Research into the Japanese concept of “forest bathing” offers insightful and helpful lessons on stress, health, and creativity.