Natalie Wolchover

Most 20-somethings went through the D.A.R.E. drug resistance program in elementary school. Did we say no to drugs?

Though little research has been done on the subject, experts on taste perception have three main theories on the temperature-dependent deliciousness of coffee.

Sleep-talking is the product of a confused mental state, but it happens to the best of us.

Would mass flushing cause a total system breakdown, or would we be saved by a technicality?

The jig is up: no man flew like a bird.

A new video shows a man flying like a bird. But is it just a viral ad campaign for Nintendo?

In a series of articles, six scholars present arguments for and against the existence of free will.

A new study finds that most people have an innate sense that they exist in or near their eyes. It is unclear whether this is the result of biology or culture.

Animals do have the capacity for music; they just prefer songs that sound very different from ours.

Animals do have the capacity for music; they just prefer songs that sound very different from ours.

A fervent minority of Americans are obsessed with the idea of the United States returning to the gold standard. Why would this be a bad idea?

Aquariums have been installed as the backstop in the new Miami Marlins baseball stadium. Animal rights activists say constant vibrations and noise will upset the fish.

In a new YouTube video, a pair of golden retrievers plays a song on an oversize piano.

YouTube users have found a strange dark object tethered to the sun that they say is a refueling UFO spaceship. What is it?

Humans would have trouble getting a foothold on an Earth without seasons.

In a new video from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a scientist addresses many of the claims surrounding the 2012 "Mayan apocalypse."

Germans can't pronounce the word "squirrel." Phonologists, who specialize in the sounds of words in different languages, explain why not.

Misinformation about asteroid 2012 DA14 sparked undue panic this week. A NASA scientist discusses the cause of this phenomenon.

A blackface ewe in Scotland has fallen to her death at an advanced age.

In a new paper, astronomers claim that a rare alignment of the Earth, moon and sun caused extreme tides that dislodged the iceberg that sunk the Titanic 100 years ago.

A new study shows that the simple act of pointing makes kids believe you, even if they see other evidence indicating that you have no idea.

Pennies are so small and flat, and cushioned by too much air, to achieve breakneck speeds when dropped from skyscrapers.

The wheel seems like a primitive invention, but it actually only happened fairly recently, and was a major accomplishment.

A European neuroscientist hopes to build a virtual human brain. We asked him how he plans to do it, and why.