Adam Cole
-
You nominated 300 cool stories of scientific surprise for Skunk Bear's Golden Mole Award. Our shortlist has it all: circuits painted with light, imperceptible genitalia, and a terrifying frog.
-
German alchemist Hennig Brand started with about 1,500 gallons of urine in his 17th century hunt for gold. Discovering phosphorus was just a nice surprise. Know a modern tale of scientific luck?
-
Scientists need curiosity, determination — and luck. We're especially interested in that last bit, so tell us your stories of mistakes and surprises that led to discoveries in the past few years.
-
Popcorn has been around at least 4,000 years. The Aztecs even had a word for the sound of kernels popping — totopoca. On National Popcorn Day, ponder the story of this beloved snack.
-
A century before militants seized Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, two photographers visited Malheur Lake. Their hand-colored images persuaded Theodore Roosevelt to protect the area's wildlife.
-
Less than 1 percent of applicants make the cut. But there's more than one way in. Passion helps. Be persistent. Oh, and be tops in what you're doing right now.
-
Skunk Bear's shivery new video explores how and why our skin acts so weird when we watch a scary movie, get cold or listen to music.
-
This winter's unexpected arctic bird invasion has given owl researchers a rare opportunity. They're fitting a few of the errant owls with GPS backpacks to track their return to the Arctic.
-
Millions of basketball fans will fill out NCAA tournament brackets this week and try to correctly predict the outcomes of every game. The chances of succeeding are about 1 in 150 quintillion. A group of computer scientists are trying to beat those odds by writing programs that learn to pick winners.