History

Earth & Conservation

There's no story in the Bible about a long-eared, cotton-tailed creature known as the Easter Bunny.

What Does the Easter Bunny Have To Do With Easter?

Frank Hurley/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images

A British expedition to study Antarctica early next year hopes to find the remains of the Endurance, the ship at the heart of one of history’s great survival epics.

Antarctic Researchers Hope to Find Shackleton’s Endurance

Ted Streshinsky/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

On April 19, 1943, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann intentionally ingested 250 micrograms of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide-25, a chemical compound that he first synthesized back in 1938 from the parasitic fungus ergot.

75 Years After First LSD Trip, Psychedelic Science Is Making a Comeback

Health

Take a closer look at the medical news and discoveries impacting our health and wellbeing.

Health News, Headlines and Videos

Herpes simplex is a virus and there are two types.

Most of Us Have Herpes Thanks to Ancient Interspecies Sex (Probably)

There are 206 bones in the human body, and it’s the same for men and women.

Why Don’t Humans Have a Penis Bone? 

It's been 64 years since the world has been this close to doomsday.

The Doomsday Clock Is Now Two-and-a-Half Minutes to Disaster

You Think You Know What Meat Is... But You Have No Idea (Part 1 of 3)

Eric S. Carlson in collaboration with Ben Potter

When scientists recently sequenced the genome of a six-week-old infant girl who lived 11,500 years ago at an Alaskan site now called Upward Sun River (USR), they expected that her DNA would match the genetic profile of other northern Native American people.

A Previously Unknown Group of Ancient Native Americans Was Just Revealed

Space & Innovation

Even though it’s 4,500 years old, the Great Pyramid of Giza still has some secrets.

How Scientists See Through Walls Using Particles From Space 

Plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, was responsible for three major pandemics: the Plague of Justinian (6th–8th century), the Black Death of the 14th century with recurrent outbreaks until the 18th century, and a 19th century outbreak that spread worldwide and became endemic in several regions, including Madagascar.

The Plague Likely Arrived in Europe During the Stone Age 

Early populations from Europe and the Near East were not just farming, though.

European Hunter-Gatherers Interbred With Farmers From the Near East

Humankind was domesticating grains thousands of years earlier than previously thought, a discovery that calls into question whether people are unique compared to other animals that tame plants for their benefit, according to researchers.

What Does the Easter Bunny Have To Do With Easter?

Easter Sunday is a religious holiday to some and a family holiday for others, but how did the bunny get involved?

Antarctic Researchers Hope to Find Shackleton’s Endurance

The Larsen C ice shelf is the primary focus of an upcoming expedition to Antarctica. But researchers will remain on the look out for wreckage of the historic ship.

75 Years After First LSD Trip, Psychedelic Science Is Making a Comeback

Sidelined for decades by the War on Drugs, LSD and other psychedelics are regaining their original reputation as effective therapies for depression and addiction.

Most of Us Have Herpes Thanks to Ancient Interspecies Sex (Probably)

Humans didn’t always have genital herpes, so scientists recently pinpointed when and how the transfer happened. Hint: it either involved murder or sex.

Why Don’t Humans Have a Penis Bone?

Many species, including some of our closest primate relatives, have penis bones. Why don’t we?

The Doomsday Clock Is Now Two-and-a-Half Minutes to Disaster

Due to climate change, the prospect of nuclear war, and a political disregard for facts, the doomsday clock is now closer to midnight than any time since the 1950s.

You Think You Know What Meat Is... But You Have No Idea (Part 1 of 3)

Eating meat has been part of the human identity for 2.5 million years, but according to science, what exactly is meat?

A Previously Unknown Group of Ancient Native Americans Was Just Revealed

The newly sequenced genome of an Alaskan infant who lived just after the last Ice Age provides clues about the ancestry and migrations of early Native Americans.

How Scientists See Through Walls Using Particles From Space

A void was just discovered in Khufu’s Pyramid using muon tomography. What are these cosmic particles and how do scientists use them to see through walls?

The Plague Likely Arrived in Europe During the Stone Age

Nomads migrating into Europe during the Stone Age may have brought the plague, setting the stage for epidemics like the Black Death, which killed at least 25 million people.

European Hunter-Gatherers Interbred With Farmers From the Near East

The first farmers were not only well traveled, but also apparently well loved by the hunter-gatherers that they encountered across Europe.

Humans Started Domesticating Crops Thousands of Years Earlier Than We Thought

Genetic analysis of grains found at archeological sites shows that einkorn was domesticated as many as 30,000 years ago and barley as many as 21,000 years ago.