Knowable Magazine

Species are disappearing at least 10 to 100 times more rapidly today than extinctions observed over millions of years. A biologist says the answer is reciprocity — to give to the planet and not just take.

Evidence is growing from rodent studies that sperm carries marks of a father’s life experiences, influencing traits in offspring. Bits of RNA could be the drivers of these epigenetic effects.

Huge snakes, tiny snakes, poisonous snakes and constrictor snakes, snakes that slither, burrow or swim: New fossils and modern technology are tracing serpent origins

Changes in neural connections due to substance use and withdrawal are long-lasting, and craving can peak well into abstinence. Understanding this process could inspire drugs to support recovery.

Nostalgia plays a big role in the meals that bring us solace — which mean we might be able to recondition ourselves toward healthier foods that still soothe

Once global warming peaks, it could take centuries to cool things back down. But we can bend the curve by cutting fossil fuel emissions now.

As the number of long-term survivors grows, doctors and patient advocates are working to improve post-cancer care

Turrets and tunnels and carbon dioxide — oh my! These ants farm, but they are also master builders.

From where the Camellia sinensis bush is grown to whether the leaves are withered or fermented, much can influence the popular drink’s molecular and flavor profile

As more adults cut off their parents, a researcher calls for closer scrutiny of causes and effects, and suggests paths to reconciliation

Close to the eastern tip of Canada, in Nova Scotia’s picturesque Halifax harbor, a local firm has joined the fight against climate change. There, Planetary Technologies has figured out how to turn the cooling water of a power plant into a tool against global warming, by enhancing its capacity to absorb carbon dioxide from the air. Founded in 2019, Planetary Technologies is at the vanguard of an e…

When scientists first cracked the genetic code, they expected a simple story: DNA makes RNA, and that RNA, known as messenger RNA, makes proteins. Proteins would do all the important work — building tissues, fighting infections, digesting food. But when the DNA of our genome was finally sequenced, researchers encountered a head-scratcher: The 20,000-plus genes that carry instructions for making o…

Our oceans are full of sophisticated, perfect traps: Nets, hooks, fishing lines. Designed to capture animals destined for our dinner tables, they often catch other wildlife too. This accidental harvest is known as bycatch, and every year it causes the death of millions of marine animals, including whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles and seabirds. Nets and gear can asphyxiate animals or cause fatal …

In the biological drama that is a cell’s life, you might think of DNA as the playwright, RNA as the director and proteins as the stars of the show. But life, and living things, are rarely so simple. It turns out that a less understood set of players — a crew of sugar structures known as glycans — gives added nuance and meaning to the action on the cellular stage. For decades, compared with other …

More than 13,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, a more-than-70- ton machine trundled like a tank on its caterpillar tracks for a tenth of a mile — sucking up potato-sized nodules of rock packed with copper, manganese, cobalt and nickel. It was 2022, and that pilot run of a subsea harvester by a Canadian business, The Metals Company, was pronounced a success. The company is working t…

When the world seems dark and scary, when compassion and tolerance seem in short supply, when hostility and hate make our future foreboding, hope comes from the place we might least expect it: science. As the Roman philosopher Lucretius observed during similarly fraught times, back in 55 BC: “This dread and darkness of the mind cannot be dispelled by sunbeams, the shining shafts of day, but only …

What is wisdom, and can it be taught? Scientists are trying to name the qualities that make someone wise and figure out how to cultivate them Emily Swanson was under pressure — not the end-of-the-world variety, but definitely stressful: prepping for her PhD qualifying exams. She fully expected the process to be grueling. But then, like a character from a heroic tale, she had an encounter that cha…

For particle physicists working with neutrinos, almost nothing is everything Several massive multimillion dollar experiments should soon reveal more about the nature of these ghostly particles Imagine you are given three gumballs of different flavors. You are told that one of them is heavier than the others, and one is lighter. But which is which? Your task is made difficult by the fact that thes…

The strange animals that control their body heat Some creatures can dramatically alter their internal temperature — a strategy called heterothermy — and outlast storms, floods and predators In 1774, British physician-scientist Charles Blagden received an unusual invitation from a fellow physician: to spend time in a small room that was hotter, he wrote, “than it was formerly thought any living cr…