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A Jack Russell terrier looks out beneath the bed covers alongside their owner's feet, which peek out from beneath the covers. The dog has an alert, inquisitive expression. The bed covers are a tan color.

Ask Us Anything

Would my dog or cat really eat me if I died alone?

By Nidhi Sharma

a capybara between two evergreen trees

Donated Christmas trees get a second life at the zoo

By Laura Baisas

red and white and red and green candy canes on a green background

The magic of making candy canes by hand

By Laura Baisas

A person in a blue jacket holds a labeled glass jar filled with grain seeds while standing in a narrow aisle of a genebank. The room is filled from floor to ceiling with shelves holding hundreds of similar jars for long-term storage.

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The seed vaults that could save humanity

An overhead view shows a group of diverse hands, with varying skin tones, arranged in a circle against a plain white background. The palms are open and facing upward, with some hands overlapping, creating a sense of unity and community. Some individuals wear rings or a beaded bracelet, and the sleeves of various shirts—plaid, denim, and solid colors—are visible at the edges of the frame.

Why do we have five fingers and toes?

By Laura Kiniry

A person bundled up in a hooded jacket and covered in snow is looking toward the camera in a snowy, blurry outdoor environment. The person's face is mostly obscured by a thick layer of snow and frost, with only the area around the eyes and nose showing exposed skin.

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The coldest body temperatures humans have survived

By RJ Mackenzie

A taxidermied squirrel named Tommy Tucker standing upright inside a glass display case. The squirrel is dressed in a miniature pink pleated dress with puffy sleeves and a white ribbon tied around the waist, paired with a small pearl necklace. The display case is secured with a brass knob and a black padlock. In the blurred background, papers and a water bottle are visible on a desk.

During WWII, a dress-wearing squirrel sold war bonds alongside FDR

By Amy Crawford

An 1886 color illustration depicting a crowd of people, including men, women, and children, gathered around a massive wheel of cheese in the East Room of the White House. A man in a dark coat is carving into the cheese with a knife, while others eagerly reach out with their own knives and hands to take a piece. In the foreground, a small boy sits on the floor eating a piece of the cheese. This event commemorates the distribution of the "Mammoth Cheese" gifted to President Andrew Jackson in 1835.

Andrew Jackson’s White House once hosted a cheese feeding frenzy

Four chocolate cookies are shown cooling on a wire rack after coming out of the oven.

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The best chocolate chip cookie recipe, according to science

By Clarissa Brincat

A large brown lizard, possibly a mother, is perched on a gray rock, eating a much smaller, lighter-colored juvenile lizard, which it holds in its mouth. The juvenile appears to be struggling or caught in the act.

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Why some animals eat their babies

By Andrew Coletti

An astronaut in a white spacesuit floats in space above Earth, holding a handmade sign that reads “FOR SALE” in large pink letters. Reflections of space equipment and Earth are visible in the astronaut’s helmet visor, and part of a space shuttle is seen behind them with the blue curve of Earth in the background.

The space billboard that nearly happened

A young person bundled in a green winter jacket, gray knit hat, and blue gloves is standing outside in the snow. They are shivering, with their arms crossed tightly and a nervous or cold expression, with their tongue slightly visible.

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What is shivering? Why our bodies shake when it’s cold.

By Laura Kiniry

A close-up, colorized photograph of a middle-aged man with a stern expression and a thick, reddish-brown beard. He is superimposed over a faded, beige background of densely printed, historical text, suggesting he is a figure related to the document's content, which appears to discuss Cattalo or Beefalo (a cow and buffalo hybrid), based on the filename.

The strange Wild West tale of the first cow-buffalo hybrid

By Bill Gourgey

Endangered Species

Ruby the turtle needs a new greenhouse. Dance companies are stepping up.

By Laura Baisas

An old DC-6 cargo plane converted into lodging rests in the snow under a glowing aurora, its windows and engines illuminated against a dark, starry winter sky.

A pilot turned an old plane into a two-bedroom apartment

By Laura Kiniry

A macro, close-up photograph of the bottom of a human nose, clearly showing the two nostrils and the texture of the surrounding skin. The eyes are closed in the background.

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Why we have two nostrils instead of one big hole

By Sarah Philip

A dramatic, low-light photo of a person with dark skin against a blue background, experiencing intense distress or pain. They are clenching their jaw and holding their hands to the sides of their head, with blurred motion around their head suggesting movement, panic, or disorientation.

What happens to your body during a panic attack?

a couple riding bikes in the pouring rain while holding umbrellas

What does ‘chance of precipitation’ really mean? A meteorologist explains.

By Laura Baisas

A close-up film still of a fictional dinosaur, the Dilophosaurus, from Jurassic Park, aggressively facing the camera with its mouth open, showcasing its sharp teeth and a large, vibrantly colored frill flared around its head. The scene is dark and misty.

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Were there any venomous dinosaurs?

By Andrew Coletti

A close-up photograph of a young child's face with freckles, wearing a knit winter hat dusted with snow. The child is smiling and deliberately crossing their eyes. The background is a blurry white winter scene.

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Is crossing your eyes really bad for you? We asked an optometrist.

By Sarah Lindenfeld Hall