Opium-Addicted Parrots Are Terrorizing Poppy Farms in India By Brandon Specktor Opium-addicted parrots are "wreaking havoc" on India's licensed poppy farms, and scaring them with firecrackers isn't helping.
Giant Newfound 'Medusa' Virus Turns Amoebas to 'Stone' By Rachael Rettner Like the mythical monster Medusa, a newfound giant virus turns its host to "stone." But, luckily for us, its hosts are amoebas.
Where Are All the 'Sparticles' That Could Explain What's Wrong with the Universe? By Paul Sutter A recent search for oddball supersymmetric particles, which could explain some of the weirdness of the universe, came up empty-handed.
Someone Decapitated a 'Crusader' Mummy in Ireland and Ran Off with Its Head By Brandon Specktor Police in Ireland are looking for the head of a very tall mummy.
What the Heck Happened to This Yo-Yo Champ's Index Finger? By Mindy Weisberger A yo-yo champion experienced dramatic ups and downs for the circulation in his index finger.
Black Snow Is Falling from the Skies in Siberia, and It Is Toxic By Brandon Specktor Don't eat the black snow.
Russia Claims Strobe-Light Weapon Causes Nausea & Hallucinations. Is That Even Possible? By Yasemin Saplakoglu How flashing light can overwhelm the brain
Why Do Humans Hear So Well? You Can Thank the Tiny 'Jell-O' Violin Inside Your Ear By Brandon Specktor A teensy little "Jell-O" membrane in our ears may partly explain why humans have such amazing hearing.
A Computer Spotted a Turtle Hiding Out in a Cloud of 'Quantum Fireworks' By Rafi Letzter Scientists couldn't find the pattern in these strange clouds of quantum fireworks. So they enlisted a computer, and it noticed a hidden turtle.
Physicists Found a Brand-New Kind of Magnet Hiding in a Uranium Compound By Rafi Letzter This strange type of magnetism can form rapidly — and disappear just as quickly.
Why Physicists Are Interested in the Mysterious Quirks of the Heftiest Quark By Paul Sutter The top quark is about 100 trillion times heavier than the up quark. But why?
Snack Attack! Chip Factory Finds WWI Grenade Packed in Potatoes By Mindy Weisberger One potato, two potato, three potato … hand grenade?
Was The Queen's Twitter Hacked, or Does She Just Really Like Mushrooms? By Brandon Specktor The Queen of England's official Twitter account started asking weird questions about fungi and alphabets, and now people are worried she got hacked.
Florida Couple Finds a Grenade. Next Stop: Taco Bell? By Mindy Weisberger A metal-fishing couple caught more than they bargained for.
A Drunk Man Swallowed a Live, Venomous, Spiny Catfish. Here's What Happened. By Rafi Letzter As part of a drinking game, a 28-year-old man from the Netherlands attempted to swallow a living fish with some powerful natural defenses.
11 Surprising Uses For Pee and Poop By Mindy Weisberger Solid and liquid waste have an unexpectedly wide range of useful applications.
Did 'The Big Bang Theory' Get the Science Right? A Lesson in Supersymmetry and Economy Class By Don Lincoln Is super asymmetry a thing? And do big physicists really travel economy class?
Mini-Monsters with Multiple Heads Created in the Lab By Stephanie Pappas A single genetic tweak can mess up the process of regeneration in hydras, causing them to sprout multiple heads.
Giant, Spinning Disk of Ice Looks Like Alien Creation. Here's How It Formed. By Jeanna Bryner Its appearance has been likened to a moon, an alien creation, a crop circle and a giant Lazy Susan.
Is Anyone Out There? New SETI Tool Keeps Track of Alien Searches By Elizabeth Howell With research on extraterrestrial life continuing across the world, a noted researcher from the SETI Institute launched a new tool to help researchers keep track of results.
