When talking about parallel universes, physics is usually the main subject. But what about the ethics behind the multiverse? Paul Sutter, a theoretical cosmologist, award-winning science communicator, NASA advisor, U.S. Cultural Ambassador, and a globally recognized leader in the intersection of art and science, helps us question the ethics behind parallel universes. What are the Ethics Behind Parallel Universes?This is a good one! If we do live in a multiverse, are we forced to reconfigure our ...read more

Thousands of languages all over the world face an uncertain future and may soon fade away if immediate action isn’t taken. One of these endangered languages is Romeyka, a variety of Greek that has roots in the ancient Hellenistic age. While its speakers are dwindling in numbers, especially in the Trabzon region of Turkey, Romeyka may be spared thanks to continuing research, and a recently launched crowdsourcing platform that can help document and preserve the language. Preserving Romeyka The ...read more

It’s a common adage — to have a “memory like a goldfish” is to be absolutely absent-minded. Though they’re beloved by many as household pets, goldfish (Carassius auratus) are known for having a memory that lasts just three seconds. Yet despite that forgetful reputation, scientists have known for decades that such claims don't hold up to scrutiny. The freshwater fish are much smarter than you might think, and studies have repeatedly shown that their memories can actually span several ...read more

We owe a lot to the sun. Without it, we’d have no heat or light, of course. We’d also have no photosynthesis, and thus no oxygen, without which, neither we nor Earth’s ozone layer would exist. And yet, as a giant nuclear reactor, the sun insists on bombarding us with energy that, left unchecked, could burn all of us to a crisp. And the ozone layer has never been a foolproof filter when it comes to screening out harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. Even in ancient times, before humans could gener ...read more

A parallel universe is a fun topic in physics, but it’s difficult to understand the concept. That’s why Paul Sutter, a theoretical cosmologist, award-winning science communicator, NASA advisor, U.S. Cultural Ambassador, and a globally recognized leader in the intersection of art and science, dives into this topic and helps us understand if parallel universes could help us search for extraterrestrial life. Hear from Sutter himself as we ask him this question: Are parallel universes possible a ...read more

April is Citizen Science Month which this year features the One Million Acts of Science Challenge, where participants from all over the world will try to make one million contributions to research projects that need their help. With thousands of citizen science projects that are active and available, things can get overwhelming. So SciStarter has taken the liberty of creating a Citizen Science Month interactive calendar with some great selections to get you started. Jump in, find a project and r ...read more

Astronomy is often called the world’s oldest science, and it’s likely humans have used their knowledge of the night sky to get from point A to point B since prehistoric times. But this ancient art predates us by far longer than that.Animals, too, follow the stars, and probably have as long as they've existed. In recent decades, researchers have discovered impressive navigation skills in various birds, in seals, even in a few insects — the latter of which have low-resolution compound eyes.� ...read more

As the threat of world war loomed in 1941, scientists considered how to best feed millions of American soldiers. What types of nutrients would they need? And how could foods be fortified with these nutrients and packaged into ready-to-eat meals?Before the decade was over, scientists had identified 13 vitamins essential to human nutrition. Food historian Mark Bittman writes in Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food from Sustainable to Suicidal how the 1940s ushered in “vitamania” and cons ...read more

Content Warning: Brief Mention of SuicideNo one knows the cause of this ailment. Currently, no lab results can conclusively test for it. There is no approved treatment — let alone any kind of cure — for this health problem.Some doctors actually refuse to believe that the condition exists. But those doctors are wrong. In fact, research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently estimates that more than 3 million Americans suffer from the problem.As medical mysteries g ...read more

As winter's brutal grip on the Arctic has begun to loosen, the vast region's sea ice cover likely reached its maximum extent for the year on March 14. That maximum spread of the ice was not as paltry as it has been in some recent years. But according to the latest analysis from the National Snow and Ice Data Center, it was still 247,000 square miles below the 1981 to 2010 average.That's an area of 'missing' ice nearly as large as Texas. For the record, NSIDC data show that the maximum extent of ...read more