With the development of the next-generation Orion spacecraft—designed to eventually take astronauts to Mars— comes a number of all-new, advanced systems designed to track, monitor, and communicate with the spacecraft and its passengers. For NASA’s Mission Control facilities, all this additional technology meant that a brand new space was required to house the additional monitors and extra personnel. And that new space was shown to the public for the first time in late August of 2025.
Halloween is a celebrated each year on October 31. The tradition originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. Learn more about the myths and legends surrounding this festival of frights by clicking this link.
The historical roots of Halloween date back to the Celtic celebration of Samwain (pronounced “sow-in” or “sah-win”). In modern times, Ireland plays host to some of the largest Halloween parties in the world, including a massive three-day festival in Derry and a Púca Festival in the towns of Trim and Athboy (a púca, or pooka, is a mischievous, shapeshifting spirit). Follow this link to learn more.
Twenty-five years ago, Lego was losing $300-million annually and nearly went bankrupt. Plagued by a history of rigid, inflexible control, Lego refused to do partnerships, tried to stop fan creators, had a toy line consumers felt was stale and out-of-date, and was facing unprecedented competition for the attention of their users due to more modern toys—like home video game systems.
It wouldn’t stay that way.
Watch this video to learn how Lego finally learned to listen to its fans, signed its first partnerships, won over adults, innovated its products, and expanded its empire into TV, movies, video games, comic books, theme parks, and more—allowing it to rapidly become the biggest-selling, most profitable toy company on the entire planet.
Roses are red…or are they?
While flowers may appear one way to us, it turns out they are hiding secret patterns that our limited eyes cannot detect. But that’s OK. Those hidden patterns aren’t for us. They are for the pollinating insects flying by.
Hidden in the ultraviolet spectrum of light, this article explains the functions those designs serve and provides examples of flowers in different lighting conditions.
Have you ever seen the color “olo?” Unless you are one of only five people on the planet who have, the answer is ‘no.’
Recently, researchers achieved the unusual feat of stimulating the eye in such a way as to allow it to see a color outside the range of normal human vision. This work is brand new, but scientists hope that it will lead to new vision treatments and help us to better understand how animals see the world.
An old and dilapidated house being reclaimed by greenery. Creaky floorboards and shifting walls that seem to groan. Intimidating exterior looming in the darkness. All possible elements of a “haunted house,” but what exactly do we find so scary? Read on to discover a psychologist’s take on the subject.
Learn about a few ways people can de-clutter their minds at work.
Explore the plot and significance of a popular Greek myth.
On May 2, 1933, the newspaper Inverness Courier ran the first story of a couple who claimed to have seen “an enormous animal” splashing around in the local lake. Over the subsequent 92 years, the legend has only grown. What about you? Do you think there is something in Loch Ness? What convinced you?
In what’s expected to soon be commonplace, artificial intelligence is being harnessed to pick up signs of cancer more accurately than the trained human eye. This latest AI model has a near 100% success rate and serves as a clear sign of things to come.
Have you ever had the exact same bad dream over and over? Some people do. It is called a “recurring nightmare.” Luckily, there are some techniques that might help break the cycle.
Some animals and insects are able to camouflaged themselves in various ways to help them hunt—or avoid being hunted. One assassin bug takes it to a scary new level, though. Read about the bug that covers itself in dead bodies in order to hunt its prey!
“Recognizing our accomplishments fuels motivation, growth, and success.” Read this article to learn about the importance of celebrating achievements and how the very act of celebrating can lead to greater success in the future.
In 2024, a study of nearly 10,000 random consumers in 8 countries—including the United States, Canada, France, and the UK among others—asked about the impacts of artificial intelligence on their shopping habits. Read about five key findings from the survey in this article and compare them to how you would answer the same questions.
R.L. Stine, the award-winning and best-selling author of the Goosebumps and Fear Street series of books (as well as many episodes of their respective spin-off TV shows), writes an essay answering the questions that he gets asked the most: “What scares you? What are you afraid of?”
How much do you know about Aztec mythology? For many people, the gods and goddesses of this culture are something of a mystery. For example, do you know why Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of war, was associated with hummingbirds? Or that one of his most powerful weapons was a turquoise snake? Read this article to learn many interesting facts about the “Turquoise Prince” of Aztec mythology.
A fruit fly’s brain is only the size of a single poppy seed, but it contains a whopping 50 million connections between its neurons. With the assistance of AI, scientists have recently mapped these connections for the first time—the first time for any insect’s brain. It teaches us a lot about how a fruit fly’s brain works, but more importantly, this achievement has already begun to reveal lessons about how all brains work, including yours and mine.
Have you ever found yourself seeing images right before falling asleep? If so, you might be experiencing hypnagogia! Learn more about what causes our pre-sleep hallucinations in this episode of SciShow, hosted by Hank Green.
From groceries to travel and from video games to shoes, it seems that just about everything is getting more expensive these days. That increase in prices is called inflation. Watch this short video to learn more about what inflation is, and more importantly, why it occurs.
