Features on ZME Science

For better or worse, machine learning is shaping biology research

Machine learning tools can increase the pace of biology research and open the door to new research questions, but the benefits don’t come without risks.

The Math Behind Why Mexico’s Cartel War is a Never-Ending Nightmare

Cartels are Mexico's fifth largest employer. They are recruiting faster than the government can arrest them.

Christmas myths: The Krampus, Santa's evil twin

Survive December 5, and you just might get some presents.

Real Vs Artificial Christmas Tree: What the science says

The Great Christmas Tree Debate: Real or Artificial — Which is Better for the Planet? The answer is not as clear-cut as you may think.

Saturnalia and Christmas -- how a Pagan Roman festival paved the way for modern Christmas

Wait, the Romans invented Christmas?

The Yule Cat: Forget Santa, Embrace the Dark Side of Icelandic Christmas

Not your average cat -- or your Christmas tradition.

The Bizarre History of Mad Honey: sweetener, psychedelic, weapon of war

Handle with care — this honey bites back!

Why Are Humans the Only Species to Cry Emotional Tears?

Darwin called them "purposeless", but emotional tears have their place.

Your Brain Has A Special Set of Neurons That Only Light Up for Music

Scientists have discovered unique neurons in the brain that respond only to music.

What's a Republic, anyway? Now is a good time to learn

Republican ideals have evolved over millennia, shaping governance across the globe. Modern republics continue to adapt, but face challenges in upholding their foundational principles.

Scientists Capture the X-ray Fingerprint of a Single Atom for the First Time — And This Could Change Everything

The achievement has potential implications from medicine to materials science.

The hands of great apes tell a story about our own evolution

Take a closer look at your hands—they carry millions of years of evolutionary history, connecting you to our closest primate relatives.

The incredible fishes that wander oceans with a transparent head

They're some of the most unusual creatures in the ocean.

10 "Living Fossils" That Have Survived Mass Extinctions And Have Barely Changed in Millions of Years

Most creatures on Earth evolve constantly but these have hardly changed after millions of years.

Meet the "Ice Man" saving Himalayan farms with artificial glaciers

An engineer’s clever artificial glaciers bring water back to parched Himalayan fields.

The one type of food you need more of, according to a leading nutritionist

"The simple things they told us, like eating your vegetables first, have always been good advice, and now science is backing it up.”

The Nobel Prizes this year are an AI bonanza

Not one but two prizes went to AI research.

The Growing Menace of Space Junk: How a Minefield of Orbiting Debris Threatens Our Future in Space

Low-orbit Earth could become inoperable for spacecraft and satellites if this complacency persists, with dire consequences.

The Secret Lives of Medieval Executioners: Society’s Outcasts

Executioners upheld law and order, but their grim profession came with a heavy price.

There's way more chaos in our lives than you think. This scientist says it's empowering

We like to believe we're in control, but there's much more randomness than we’d like to think.

Do animals recognize themselves in the mirror? And what does that mean for us?

For an item that most of us use every day without much thought, mirrors can be a rich source of insight into the inner workings of our minds. Self-awareness is something we consider to be a hallmark of the human experience. It represents the ability of an individual to recognize where they begin and where […]

The Invisible Backbone of the Internet: Nearly A Million Miles of Undersea Cables Keep the World Connected — But What Happens If They Break?

The cables lying on the ocean floor power the world’s internet, but they are far from indestructible.

What makes gemstones so brilliantly colored -- spoiler alert, it's physics

In a previous color, we’ve talked about what makes things colored — the way objects absorb, reflect, or transmit light at different wavelengths. But let’s be a bit more specific. What gives gemstones colors, or rather, what changes the way they absorb and reflect light so that they come out in so many different, striking […]

The World’s Largest Musical Instrument Is a 3.5-Acre Stone Organ Hidden Inside This Virginia Cave

The Great Stalacpipe Organ transforms stalactites into a vast, natural musical instrument.

What is a waterspout and did one sink the Bayesian luxury yacht?

Are waterspouts some of Europe's most underestimated disasters?

Titanium: how we use the metal of the titans

Beyond its remarkable properties, titanium minerals also look spectacularly.

Parvovirus B19: CDC warns of new "slapped cheek disease" uptick

The disease is not typically dangerous, but in children and vulnerable people, it can damage various parts of the body.

Breathtaking Metamorphosis: The Saturniidae Moths

These moths are some of the most amazing creatures you'll see.

Geological faults: the beauty (and science) of a key geological process

This picture encapsulates the beauty of a geologic fault -- it's like someone took it from a textbook and slammed it into real life.

The Untold Story of An Ancient African Alphabet Born from a Dream

In the 19th century, a man living in present-day Liberia dreamed of the first script for his native Vai language. Today linguistic anthropologists are digging into the script’s evolution—and what the changes over the past two centuries reveal about human cognition and society.

What is the hardest language to learn as a native English speaker?

English speakers may find Mandarin, Arabic, and Japanese up to four times harder to master than Spanish or French.

Remembering the Tuskegee experiment: when rural Alabama Black men were intentionally exposed to syphilis with no treatment

It's been 50 years since one of the most unethical studies in the history of science was exposed to the public.

Face of the dollar: the story of Peter the Mint Eagle

Back in the 1830s, one bird’s nonchalant attitude won it the affection of the US Mint.

Operation Beluga -- or how a Soviet ice breaker played music to thousands of ice-trapped whales to save them from starving

Sometimes, you just need an icebreaker and some classical music to make your day better.

The Paris Olympics is the most vegetarian-friendly: 60% of options are meat-free

Paris is emphasizing sustainability and fighting the myth that you need meat for athletic performance.

These drawings were made by Onfim, a 7-year-old boy in the 13th century

The artifacts tell us a lot about life in medieval times in the area.

11 Extraordinary Sharks That Live in Deep Sea Waters

Forget open water sharks. Some of the most interesting sharks on Earth live near the ocean's floor.

Supernatural Japanese concepts: from telepathy and fate to memories of past lives

How many of these do you know?

Who is Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin: The Woman Who Knew The Stars

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin was the first person to realise the abundance of hydrogen in the stars and the universe at large. She would overcome the adversity that faces women in academia to blaze a trail through physics and become one of the most important figures in the history of astrophysics.

The Story of Hugh Everett III: The Father of the "Multiverse' and Parallel Worlds

Meet the brilliant mathematician who gave us the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.

Remembering Félicette: The first cat in space

Celebrating the memory of the world's first and only astrocat.

6 Adorable Sharks That Are Actually More Cute Than Scary

These are some sharks that won't force you to get a bigger boat.

What are thundereggs? The rare, chalcedony-filled rocks

It's one of the most spectacular types of rock out there.

13 Incredible Armored Dinosaurs That Were Built For Battle

These dinosaurs were built like a tank.

The Romans used an infamous narcotic plant — but was it for painkilling or for pleasure?

Archaeologists have finally proven that Romans used black henbane. But how did they use it?

Why older adults are getting smarter than before: insights from new research

The cognitive gap between generations is narrowing.

How much of human intelligence is genetic versus acquired? Is it even possible to get smarter?

Intelligence, a blend of genetics and environment, centers on problem-solving abilities and is best enhanced through learning and formal education.

Carbon fixation explained: the hidden hero of photosynthesis

A brief explainer of how plants deal with CO2.

Are turtles dinosaurs? Their evolution took its own distinct path

They're more like cousins than siblings.

Utahraptor: the dinosaur with a killer claw

These were the actual Jurassic Park raptors.

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