Meteorologists are better at their jobs than you might think. Here's how heaps of data are turned into a forecast relevant to you. ...read more

Lightning was detected in association with a thunderstorm located over the Arctic Ocean on Saturday, Aug. 11. (Source: National Weather Service) We're accustomed to lightning crackling within thunderstorms over relatively warm places like Florida — which happens to be the U.S. lightning champ. But lightning near the North Pole? Well, that's what happened on Saturday. And so now we get to add this to the list of extreme events that have befallen the Arctic this summer. These incl ...read more

Our goosebumps are one of those weird quirks that make us human. (Credit: Michal Cervenansky/Shutterstock) Human bodies do a lot of weird stuff. But goosebumps may be one of our strangest bodily functions. Goosebumps are humanity's near-universal reaction to the cold. But for some reason, those unmistakable, tiny bumps on the skin also appear when we’re scared or when we’re moved by something awe-inspiring. What is it about these starkly different experiences that triggers ...read more

(Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab) (Inside Science) -- Experts believe the building blocks of life first bumped into each other about 3.5 billion years ago. This serendipitous collision somehow helped form the first rudimentary cell -- and the first life on Earth. At least, that's been the predominant theory. Now, a team of scientists from the University of Washington is challenging this idea in a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Ac ...read more

The Vela pulsar is known to glitch something like once every three years, when it speeds up for a few seconds. (Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Toronto/M.Durant et al; Optical: DSS/Davide De Martin) When a massive star dies, it leaves behind a dense core called a neutron star. Many of these exotic suns spin rapidly, sending out beams of radiation like lighthouses, and these are called pulsars. They can rotate thousands of times a second, and spin so steadily that they can be used as cosmolog ...read more

An animation of Himawari 8 satellite images shows Typhoon Lekima threading the needle between Japanese islands. (Note: The animation is a big file so it may take a moment to load. Source: SSEC/CIMSS) Typhoon Lekima blasted ashore south of the mega-city of Shanghai early on Saturday local time, whipping the coast with sustained winds of around 115 miles per hour. A million people were evacuated ahead of the storm, which has caused 13 deaths. Now a tropical storm, Lekima is churning north ...read more

We’re in the dog days of summer, and National Dog Day is August 26. You and your dog can celebrate by doing a little science together (that’s right!)…and help researchers in the process. Cheers!The SciStarter Team Darwin's Ark Help researchers understand pet personalities by contributing a saliva sample and/or filling out a survey about your furry friend. Location: Global Get Started! C-BARQ and Fe-BARQ Give scientists a glimpse ...read more

https://youtu.be/R-VbJmngUSU We’ve got: Maya warfare, giant extinct parrots, ancient galaxies, space travel radiation, a pill for lucid dreams, and more. Maya Warfare The Maya Classic Period, from 300 to 900 A.D., is seen as a kind of golden age for the ancient Central American civilization. Populations boomed. Art and science flourished. It was a pretty peaceful time, or so we thought. Archaeologists have now discovered evidence of all-out warfare and near-complete destruct ...read more

Want to map extreme heat in your community? Anyone, anywhere can take action with ISeeChange. It’s not just in your head; Boston really is hotter in the summer. When urban areas are warmer than surrounding non-urban environments, we experience a phenomenon called the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Cities are filled with large amounts of artificial materials, such as concrete and asphalt, that absorb heat throughout the day and release heat at night. Living materials like trees, flo ...read more

InVADER will explore deep-sea vents on Earth to prepare future missions to do the same on watery worlds in the solar system like Europa or Enceladus. (Credit: D. Kelley, University of Washington/NSF-OOI/WHOI) Some of the most intriguing possibilities for finding life outside Earth are on water worlds like Europa or Enceladus — ocean moons orbiting Jupiter and Saturn. However, those worlds are encased in layers of ice, meaning any ocean exploration will take place far beneath the surface ...read more