body snatching
The Gruesome History of Making Human Skeletons
From quicklime to boiling to bugs.
All Stories
prank
A Phantom Labeler Is Menacing a New Zealand Museum
"GO ON TOUCH IT."
monsters
A Legendary Fish Named ‘Pig Nose’ Was Caught for the Second Year in a Row
He had gained about 50 pounds.
spheres
How Nature Creates Uncannily Spherical Boulders
There's a geological phenomenon behind exceptionally round rocks.
robot
From Seed to Harvest, This Field of Barley Was Grown Without Human Intervention
Programmed tractors, autonomous drones, and the future of farming.
new york city
For Decades, New York's Chinatown Duped 'Slum Tourists' With Faked Danger and Depravity
Opium dens, gunfights, and poverty theater.
asteroids
The Mysterious Case of the Vanishing Comet
The key to solving the puzzle was meteor showers.
police
Mapping Antwerp's Last 'Invisible Route'
One man tried to find a surveillance camera-free path through his city, and it wasn't easy.
cats
Look at These 7 Baby Lynxes and Their Mom
You deserve it!
japan
Get to Know Your Japanese Bathroom Ghosts
There are several to keep track of, some scarier than others.
anthropocene
Giant, Introduced Herbivores Could Be Helping ‘Rewild’ the World
In the anthropocene, maybe feral camels, wild donkeys, and cocaine hippos aren't a bad thing.
travel writing
Found: The Earliest Known Work of Fiction by Ernest Hemingway
Two researchers discovered a story written by the author when he was just 10 years old.
crustaceans
A Czech Brewery's Newest Employees Are 5 Crayfish
Changes in their behavior tell brewers whether their water is clean enough.
mars
Are Earthworms Tough Enough for Mars?
One ecologist is trying to find out.
visual
The Fairytale Forests of Yakushima
The island features deer, monkeys, and thousand-year-old trees.
genetics
Which Two Songs Are the First to Be Encoded Into the Fabric of Life?
Advances in synthetic DNA are offering a way to preserve music forever, like a fly in amber.
birds
Inside India's Record-Breaking Aviary
Shuka Vana is home to 468 bird species, more than any similar collection in the world.
whales
Dead Whales Are Bringing Other Species Together
Over the past week, carcasses have inspired several unprecedented animal gatherings.
