When Neil Armstrong took his first step upon the cratered, dusty surface of the moon, the only thing protecting him from battering rays of direct sunlight, space radiation, and shooting lunar particles was the meticulously designed spacesuit he’d donned.But before Armstrong stepped on the moon, the suit kept making rapid trips back and forth between Delaware and Houston. Experts took it down to Texas in a suitcase for testing before sending it back upstate for fixes – including swapping out ...read more

In July 2023, three military veterans testified before the U.S. Congress about their experiences with UFOs. A navy fighter pilot described seeing a dark, cube-like spacecraft near the coast of Virginia in 2014. The pilot was flying an F-18 in hurricane-force winds and was stunned to see the dark object hovering, unbothered by the gusts.Another navy pilot reported how he saw an aircraft near San Diego that resembled a Tic Tac. The apparent UFO was smooth, without wings or rotors. And when the nav ...read more

As a species, humans like to think that we are fully in control of our decisions and behavior. But just below the surface, forces beyond our conscious control influence how we think and behave: our genes.Since the 1950s, scientists have been studying the influences genes have on human health. This has led medical professionals, researchers and policymakers to advocate for the use of precision medicine to personalize diagnosis and treatment of diseases, leading to quicker improvements to patient ...read more

Cheese is a relatively simple food. It’s made with milk, enzymes – these are proteins that can chop up other proteins – bacterial cultures and salt. Lots of complex chemistry goes into the cheesemaking process, which can determine whether the cheese turns out soft and gooey like mozzarella or hard and fragrant like Parmesan.In fact, humans have been making cheese for about 10,000 years. Roman soldiers were given cheese as part of their rations. It is a nutritious food that provides protein ...read more

In 2023, there was a warning that sharks off the coast of Florida could be chowing down on bales of cocaine deposited by traffickers.Then, a high-profile experiment showcased during Shark Week tested out this warning. Hitting the headlines, the possibility of cocaine-fueled sharks became a hot topic. Despite the ensuing furor, this supposed problem remains highly skeptical.“The experiments that were done for the TV show were really just to show people that there's a connection between our impa ...read more

A surprising technique has helped scientists observe how Earth’s oceans are changing, and it’s not using specialized robots or artificial intelligence. It’s tagging seals.Several species of seals live around and on Antarctica and regularly dive more than 100 meters in search of their next meal. These seals are experts at swimming through the vigorous ocean currents that make up the Southern Ocean. Their tolerance for deep waters and ability to navigate rough currents make these adventurous ...read more

Through countless eons of birth and death, our ancient ancestors have passed down their burial and funerary practices to the present day. Some of these customs have remained the same, while others have faded into history. Yet, regardless of whether these practices still exist today, some of the graves and cemeteries left behind by historical humans, from those located in caves or beneath giant, towering monuments, have lived on for millennia. Learn more about some of these graveyards, as well a ...read more

The search for Earth-like planets around other stars is one of the great endeavors in modern science. Astronomers have discovered numerous candidates that orbit other stars in the Goldilocks zone where liquid water is likely to exist. The next step is to study the atmosphere of these exoplanets, looking for evidence that they are Earth-like. The huge distances of these planets, their tiny sizes and the even smaller signatures from their atmospheres make this a horrendously difficult task. Which ...read more

Roads are symbols of a functioning society. They make the transportation of people and goods possible and they date back to 4000 B.C. Sumerians built the first known stone-paved roads in Mesopotamia —modern-day Iraq. And since then roads have held societies together and made trade between other civilizations possible. Here are some of the oldest and most fascinating roads in history. The Silk Road(Credit: Dimitrios Karamitros/Shutterstock) The Silk Road wasn’t actually a road. Even the name ...read more

An unhealthy lifestyle is a common culprit for chronic diseases from heart disease to lung cancer, but Graves’ disease, on the other hand, is an autoimmune condition that evades such a straightforward explanation. When it comes to what causes Graves’ disease, the root of the autoimmune disorder, is widely unknown. Andrew Gianoukakis, professor of medicine at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine and chief of the division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at Harbor-UCLA Medical ...read more