Is our digital experience with nature eclipsing our real experience with nature? What do we gain by watching wildlife on a webcam? What do we lose? In this essay, writer Diane Ackerman shares her opinion about our digital connection to nature.
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Think Like Einstein
Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity helped us understand that traveling forward in time is possible. Are you curious about how this works? Learn to think like Einstein as you follow this simple experiment about time travel. It’s not as hard as it sounds!
The Red Tail Squadron: Honoring Tuskegee Airmen
The history of flight is full of bold actions taken by courageous people. Explore this site to learn about the Tuskegee Airmen, America’s first black military pilots and crew.
Ideas Cost Peace Prize Winner Freedom
An advocate of human rights and democracy in China, Liu Xiaobo was imprisoned by his government in an attempt to silence him from sharing his ideas for change. Learn about his willingness to sacrifice his own freedom in the fight for the freedom of his country.
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks is well known for her decision not to give up her seat to a white person on a segregated bus during a time when a racist law forced African Americans to do this. Learn more about the life and efforts of this unassuming hero.
Students, Swedish-Americans swap immigrant stories
Learn about an initiative at Wellstone High School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, called Story Swap. This program aims to teach the students about what they have in common with past immigrants like the Swedes.
Litter To Your Heart’s Content With This Seed-Bomb Coffee Cup
As consumers, do we give enough thought to the amount of waste we generate or where it ends up? This Kickstarter project aims to educate consumers about their waste by producing a coffee cup that can be used to grow plants or trees.
Kepler Discovers Solar System’s Ancient ‘Twin’
Astronomers studying data from NASA’s Kepler spacecraft have discovered a star that’s 11.2 billion years old and has at least five Earth-size planets.
The Code That May Treat Blindness
Neuroscientist Sheila Nirenberg explains how technology she has built can transmit visual code directly to the eye and bypass damaged cells.
Girl helps paramedics through sign language skills
A 10-year-old girl who learned sign language from her mother found herself putting it to use in an unexpected way.
‘Blindness’ May Rapidly Enhance Other Senses
The power suddenly goes out, and you’re left in a dark room; how do you find your way? You might at first think you’re helpless, but your other senses quickly spring into action to compensate for your temporary loss of sight. Here’s a peek at the science behind this ability.
Do Twins Have a Mysterious Connection?
We sometimes hear about remarkable coincidences in the lives of twins who have lost touch with each other or live hundreds of miles apart. Do twins share such a strong bond that they can experience each others’ distant thoughts and feelings? Or is something else at work?
Malala Yousafzai’s Courage
Much has been written about Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning teen from Pakistan’s rugged mountain region who continues to push for education for girls despite death threats. Pulitzer Prize-winning opinion columnist Leonard Pitts shares his thoughts.
How Near-Death Experiences Work
You’ve probably heard stories about people who were resuscitated from clinical death. They tell of meeting loved ones in a bright light and feeling completely at peace. What causes these impressions?
A Cause Unites Unlikely Partners in South Wales
In the 1980s, Welsh coal miners went on strike to oppose the policies of British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. They were surprised to receive support from a group vastly different from them, but united in feeling marginalized by the Thatcher government.
Why We Explore
No matter how far humans go, there’s always another frontier beyond the last one. Find out what quests NASA scientists have in store for the future, and why.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
In a life worthy of a Shakespeare play, during the era in which Macbeth was set, Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the most powerful and influential women in the world.
Can these 36 questions make you fall in love with anyone?
Recently, two co-workers at The Guardian tested out a list of questions designed to make people fall in love. The questions move from the ordinary to the deeply personal, mimicking the progression of a relationship. But do they really work?
Words From the Past Illuminate a Station on the Way to Freedom
A new book from Eric Foner, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, based on the discovery of journals containing interviews with fugitive slaves, sheds light on how the Underground Railroad really worked. Read about it here.
Can we choose our ethnic identities based on random obsessions?
Just how much of the ethnic background we claim or aspire to claim, has to do with the family members or traditions we relate to the most?