Meet the swirlon, a new kind of matter that bends the laws of physics By Stephanie Pappas A new form of active matter known as swirlonic matter clumps together in quasi-particles that bend the laws of physics.
Alligators in Oklahoma turn into 'popsicles' sticking out of the frozen water By Laura Geggel Alligators often 'snorkel' during cold snaps, so they don't become trapped underwater without access to air.
Overgrown sheep 'Baarack' gets epic quarantine haircut, loses 78 lbs. of matted wool By Mindy Weisberger A sheep found wandering wild in Victoria, Australia carried a massive coat of fleece weighing as much as a 10-year-old child.
Hidden 'madman' message on 'The Scream' traced back to Munch himself By Yasemin Saplakoglu Experts have long debated the identity of the inscriber, with some suggesting a dissatisfied vandalizer is the author, while others pointed fingers at the Norwegian painter himself.
New AI 'Ramanujan Machine' uncovers hidden patterns in numbers By Stephanie Pappas A new artificially intelligent 'Ramanujan Machine' can generate hundreds of new mathematical conjectures, which might lead to new math proofs and theorems.
How does the rubber pencil illusion work? By Isobel Whitcomb The rubber pencil illusion works because our brain can't keep up.
Venus flytraps produce magnetic fields when they eat By Yasemin Saplakoglu These carnivorous plants generate tiny magnetic signals when they clamp down on insects.
'Pile of rope' on a Texas beach is a weird, real-life sea creature By Mindy Weisberger Frequently mistaken for discarded piles of beach trash, ropelike sea whips are a type of colorful coastal coral.
Russia's 'Dyatlov Pass' conspiracy theory may finally be solved 60 years later By Brandon Specktor The infamous Dyatlov Pass incident, where 9 hikers died under mysterious circumstances, just got its first scientific explanation after 60 years of speculation.
Rock collector finds rare gemstone that looks like Cookie Monster By Stephanie Pappas An agate discovered in Brazil bears a remarkable resemblance to the Sesame Street muppet Cookie Monster.
Can science 'prove' there's an afterlife? Netflix documentary says yes. By Stephanie Pappas The new Netflix series 'Surviving Death' marches through an array of paranormal phenomena, some unprovable, some debunked and some genuinely mysterious.
Lizzie Borden's home, site of brutal axe murders, could be yours for $2 million By Mindy Weisberger The home where Lizzie Borden's father and stepmother were murdered is now a bed and breakfast, and a museum. Its retiring owner just put it on the market.
CIA releases entire collection of UFO-related documents to truth-seeking website By Brandon Specktor The CIA just turned over 2,700 pages of UFO-related material to The Black Vault, a free repository of UFO records online.
10 science records broken in 2020 By Yasemin Saplakoglu From the longest bird flight to the oldest identical twins, 2020 was filled with record-breaking science.
10 times science made a sucky year suck less By Yasemin Saplakoglu From the incredible efforts of scientists to develop a COVID-19 vaccine in record time to clapping seals, this year had some amazing discoveries.
Live Science's top stories of 2020: Writers' choice By Mindy Weisberger From a mirror universe to X-shaped galaxies, these stories guaranteed that 2020 would be a year to remember.
Fireballs, spaceships and … iguanas? 7 strange things that fell from the sky By Nicoletta Lanese Watch your head!
Alien hunters detect mystery signal coming from the closest star system By Rafi Letzter Astronomers hunting for radio signals from alien civilizations have reportedly detected an "intriguing signal" from the direction of Proxima Centauri, the nearest star system to the sun.
Newly discovered fungi turn flies into zombies and devour them from the inside out By Stephanie Pappas Two newly discovered fungi eat flies from the inside out while dropping new spores out of holes dissolved in the living flies' abdomens.
Rare 9-armed octopus found off Japan coast By Laura Geggel How did an octopus in Japan grow nine arms?
