The Clever Tricks That Let Caterpillars Reach Butterflyhood

02.09.2010 These wingless larvae outwit predators through ingenious disguises, alarming appendages, and choreographed chaos.

by Smriti Rao; all images by Samuel Jaffe

More

8 Marine Creatures that Light Up the Sea

02.01.2010 How bioluminescence makes the ocean go round.

by Jeremy Jacquot

More

Impostors! Ten Species That Survive by Imitation

01.26.2010 Disguises, fake sex, and eau de rotting flesh: These plants and animals use the weirdest ruses to get by.

by Andrew Moseman

More

The Science & the Fiction

01.21.2010 The intrepid Bad Astronomer, Phil Plait, picks the best and worst science moments at the movies.

by Phil Plait

More

Stunning High-Speed Photos of Birds

01.19.2010 Photographer Andrew Zuckerman earns the title of the new Audubon with his high-definition, high-speed avian portraits.

by Nina Bai

More

"Frankenfoods" That Could Feed the World

01.05.2010 Genetically modified crops designed for industrial agriculture have given the technology a bad rap. Here are 7 transgenic plants that could help the world's hungriest and poorest people.

by Emily Waltz

More

The Mating Game's Biggest Cheaters

01.11.2010 Backstabbing is rife in the animal kingdom—especially among hermaphroditic flatworms, which literally stab each other with their penises during mating to determine who will carry the babies.

by Brett Israel

More

Frankenhuman! 9 Lab Animals That Add Up to 1 Person

01.05.2010 Taken (or stitched) together, the animals used in medical research form a kind of laboratory doppelganger for humans—similar biology, fewer moral qualms.

by Andrew Moseman

More

How to Build a Human Brain, in 7 Easy Steps

12.28.2009 What if you wanted to get to know your brain by building one from the bottom up? All you need is this guide, a lot of patience, and some really tiny tweezers.

by Megan Talkington

More

How Autistic Artists See the World

12.15.2009 Artworks created by autistic people reveal their fascinating visions.

by Eliza Strickland

More