The American reaction to Sputnik was diverse, to say the least. Some people were terrified. Some were excited by the scientific prospects of the now-dawned space age. Others immediately jumped to ways to match then beat the Soviets. And one Air Force Physicist, Leonard Reiffel, thought the best course of action in the wake of Sputnik was to nuke the Moon... [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PogaZ1Y7hw[/embed] The idea was summed up in a 1958 report somewhat innocuously titled ...read more

When you’re a tiny fern in a big, cruel world, how do you survive insect attacks and stay fed? Teaming up with bacteria might do the trick! Biologists have sequenced the genomes of ferns for the first time, and the two species they’ve started with are already revealing trade secrets, adding to our understanding of how partnering with bacteria helps them repel hungry insects and get the nutritious nitrogen they need. The ferns’ genomes als ...read more

The Silk Road moved more than silk. Spices, grain, livestock and a thousand other items were on offer along the loose network of roads and maritime routes that also played a central role in the movement of religious and cultural ideas across the ancient and medieval worlds. But we don't call it the Spice Road, or the Grain Road. While the term "Silk Road" is a 19th century invention, it reflects the importance of the silkworm that produces the raw material for what's arguably the most famous ...read more

This month it’s exceptionally easy to celebrate by simply grabbing your meal and bringing it outside! Lots of creatures will likely join you during your meal en plein air, so this is a good opportunity to say hello and take note as some sing you songs, some attempt to take a nibble of your food… and others yet who may attempt to take a nibble of you! While you’re enjoying the fresh air, here are six citizen science projects that you can d ...read more

Hitting the trails for the long holiday weekend? Here’s a citizen science project you can contribute if you’re exploring the Appalachian Mountains, which stretch all the way from Georgia to Maine. Happy trails!  ~The SciStarter Editorial Team Hikers in the Appalachian mountains contribute data and help researchers learn how climate change is affecting plants living in high Alpine ranges and promote conservation in the face of these changes. Lea ...read more

The sight of dozens of butterflies congregated in one spot might be beautiful, but if you know what they're actually doing, you might not want to get too close. When butterflies get together like this, it's usually to slurp up some nutritional goodies from an unexpected source—like, oh I don't know, animal pee. This behavior is often called "puddling" or "mudding", though the insects don't just suck on damp earth. To get missing nutrients like sodium which aren't& ...read more

Ever since Rob Weryk first spotted ‘Oumuamua zipping through the solar system in October 2017, the peculiar object has been the target of intense scrutiny for astronomers from around the globe. After confirming the suspected asteroid reached a maximum speed of nearly 200,000 miles per hour during its closest approach to the Sun (and is shaped like a cigar), researchers quickly shifted their focus to determining the composition and origin of this mysteri ...read more

Hello friends! After 8 years and 679 posts, the time has come for me to wrap up this blog. Most cephalopods don't live more than a year or two, so I've been very lucky. I started Inkfish when I was working as a magazine editor; I wanted an outlet to share scientific stories that excited me with my friends and family, and maybe—I hoped—some other readers. Later I moved from good old Blogspot to the blog network Field of Science, and  ...read more

When you think of Mozart, you probably imagine an 18th century gentleman who was always thinking about music. Well, it turns out that when not composing musical masterpieces, Mozart liked to talk about "shooting off his rear-end gun".  He was such a huge fan of potty humor that some historians, after reading a series of letters that Mozart wrote to his female cousin (the Bäsle letters), have proposed that he&A ...read more