(This program is no longer streaming). Sixty-six million years ago, an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs in a fiery global catastrophe. But we know little about how their successors, the mammals, ...

In a contest for the least contentious statement a person can make, “What goes up must come down” is surely a strong contender. Of the four known fundamental forces—gravity, the electromagnetic force, ...

Chris Mazurek was a freshman in college when he had a dream that he was inside the Legends of Zelda video game. He saw himself as the main protagonist, Link, in third person. Suddenly, beeping noises ...

Split a mile in half, you get half a mile. Split the half mile, you get a quarter, and on and on, until you’ve carved out a length far smaller than the diameter of an atom. Can this slicing continue ...

Whether out of mischief or just plain boredom, most of us have fired a rubber band slingshot at some point. It’s a pretty thoughtless task: Hook a rubber band around your thumb, stretch it backwards ...

If a theory doesn’t make a testable prediction, it isn’t science. It’s a basic axiom of the scientific method, dubbed “falsifiability” by the 20th century philosopher of science Karl Popper. General ...

An electrical engineer works on Form Energy's 2022 battery module in the company's lab in Berkeley, California. Image courtesy of Form Energy Share Weirton, West Virginia has iron in its blood. The ...

We feel distracted, like we're not functioning as effectively as possible. Focus no longer has clarity. Yet when, at the end of the day or while on vacation, we finally have a chance to concentrate, ...

Receive emails about upcoming NOVA programs and related content, as well as featured reporting about current events through a science lens. To find out, we imagined a souped-up spacecraft that could ...

They haven't got no noses, The fallen sons of Eve; Even the smell of roses Is not what they supposes; But more than mind discloses And more than men believe. —from "The Song of the Quoodle," G.K.

Where did the very first living thing on Earth come from? Scientists have long argued that billions of years ago, life emerged on its own—but no one knows exactly how. Now, in a landmark discovery, ...

Elephants die; we all do. In elephants and some others, it matters who has died. It’s why they are “who” animals. The crucial importance of memory, learning, and leadership in a family’s survival is ...