Seeds from many plants can lie dormant in dry places for years—sometimes hundreds or even thousands. Nature has equipped seeds with this ability. But can whole plants keep their vitality…

There’s an old saying: “You can’t work in gloves.” So what does that mean for a diver sealed inside a heavy, so-called hard suit built to reach great depths? Encased…

The Mola mola, or sunfish, can reach 10 feet in length and the same in height. To reach its dorsal fin, a person would have to stand on a friend’s…

Starch feels dry to the touch—you could even pour it into a paper bag. Yet it contains 20 percent water. That means that from five cups of starch you could…

At a permafrost research station in Russia’s Far East, scientists studied a layer of well-preserved peat trapped in the ice. They found fungal spores, algal cells, and the eggs of…

Discovering a Hidden Museum of Miniatures What kind of museum is this? At first glance, it’s hard to describe. You have to see it — but not with the naked…

helicopter All six passengers gasped… Or rather, they didn’t even have time to gasp before it all happened… On a winter day, a helicopter took off from an airfield with…

Can you sing a duet with yourself? Sure — you can mumble or mutter under your breath. But singing a true duet with yourself? That sounds impossible. Not just any…

Iceberg Icebergs can reach enormous sizes. One encounter with an iceberg proved disastrous for the Titanic — then the world’s largest ocean liner. There have been instances where submerged icebergs,…

As far back as 3,000 years ago, the ancient Persians knew that doves could find their way home from distant lands. They were the first to establish a pigeon post…

A few years ago, a mysterious incident occurred in Rome. On a hot day, a car pulled up to a gas station. The passengers stepped out to stretch while the…

In many fish species, especially marine ones, females are drab while males are flashy — true “fashionistas” dressed like Spanish grandees. That’s the case with the smarida fish. Male smarida…

You might wonder whether it matters if a duckling hatches in an incubator or under its mother. At first glance, it doesn’t — until you put them near water. An…

The Sun’s “household” is surprisingly large—nine major planets and about 1,600 smaller bodies, including asteroids. All of these celestial bodies orbit it, held in place by the Sun’s powerful gravity.…

If you see it, you’ll definitely be amazed! This Rossosh-grown giant lemon sits on a slender branch hung with dense, dark green leaves, standing out beautifully against the foliage with…

In 1938, ordinary apple saplings were brought from the Altai region. Just two decades later, every visitor to the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition stopped to admire them. The sight was staggering:…

An elderly postal worker shrugged and said, “If you’re going to send packages to someone unknown, at least help me carry them to the service area. I can’t manage these…

Have you ever seen a sunflower that has its own name, like a racehorse, a steamboat, or a factory? In the Chinese province of Hubei, there is such a sunflower.…

Shipping goods between countries usually means paying customs duties. But merchants often don’t want to hand over part of their earnings to the government. One clever trader was determined to…

To get a good look up close, you have to tilt your head back so far your hat might fall off. Standing eight meters tall, it’s perhaps the city’s oldest…

In Burma’s teak forests, elephants do the work machines handle elsewhere. They fell trees and, instead of tractors, haul heavy logs down to the river. An elephant can grasp a…

Alongside mobile TV systems used for sea searches, England has installed stationary cameras. One of these is located at the mouth of the River Clyde and allows continuous observation of…

Rabbit What determines the price of a rabbit—fur quality, pelt size, or meat weight? If you’d asked that question in England a century ago, you’d have been met with disbelief:…

People: The Masters of the Earth Humans are the masters of the earth. They reshape the planet in their own way—creating new seas, building cities, and, if necessary, like mythical…

In Japan, telegraph lines often go silent at sunrise. Operators tap at their keys, but the receiving equipment stays quiet. What causes that? Any telegraph worker in Japan would simply…

Tropical nature has given people nearly everything they needed: food, clothing, and even light. On Pacific islands and in parts of South America, people harvest plants whose fruits locals call…

Chaos in Yokohama Harbor  Laughter rippled across Yokohama Harbor. People on all the foreign ships anchored in the bay were laughing until they cried, as were those standing on…

First, let’s meet the sentinel and learn where it keeps watch. The viper is a snake that feeds on small birds, while the pizonia is a shrub that resembles our…

When one of the caravels in Christopher Columbus’s fleet, the “Santa Maria,” sank, the crew of another caravel, the “Niña,” refused to obey him. Columbus decided to report this to…

A farmer on Flores Island (part of the Lesser Sunda Islands) came home from the forest carrying a wriggling bag. Neighborhood kids swarmed him, each eager to see what was…

Who would have thought Italy could still be underexplored? Nestled in Europe, it has been visited by tourists from north to south. Yet even in a country like Italy, remarkable…

In 1875 an American clergyman declared that science had reached its limits — that there was nothing left to discover. When someone told him humans would one day fly, he…

What is the largest freshwater lake on Earth? Many would immediately answer: Lake Baikal. But just how vast is it? A single drop of water that enters Lake Baikal can…

Two Centuries of Change: The Caspian Sea’s Retreat Two hundred years ago, the city of Guryev sat on the Caspian Sea. Today it lies 35 kilometers from the shoreline —…

Did the creators of the tale about Ivanushka and the humpbacked horse know about this lake? Most likely not. They simply imagined a magical body of water where the brave…

— You can only carve such lines with a diamond cutter! — You’re mistaken, my friend. Those slabs were eroded by soil acids, and people simply polished them… — Can’t…

How big can a berry be? When you hear the word “berry,” many people think of strawberries or cherries. But the largest strawberry is only about the size of a…

He spent his entire life wandering through the taiga in search of the magical root of life—known as “pancui” in Manchu and “ginseng” in Chinese. He built a little shelter…

In that distant land, cities are few and far between, but the depths are rich. Layers of ore lie embedded in the mountains, and gold is scattered along the riverbeds……

The Stars of the Universe: A Closer Look at Vega and Beyond Vega might be famous, but it’s not a giant among stars. It is merely 15 times larger than…

Flounder once posed a puzzle for scientists. To study how fish adapt to their surroundings, researchers placed a flat glass tank over a chessboard. Over time, the fish became so…

“Measure twice, cut once,” goes the old saying. The truth of that advice is visible everywhere, especially today, when one astonishing discovery follows another and the outcomes are hard to…

The runner of a hydraulic turbine — the component found in every hydroelectric power plant — is not just bulky; it’s highly complex. The history of how the runner was…

Most people picture pearls growing inside oysters—and they’re right: marine and freshwater mollusks are the main source of pearls. But mollusks aren’t the only source. Believe it or not, stones…

The Fascinating Science of Heavy Water In one science-fiction novel, people shrink Earth’s water supply to melt Antarctica’s ice caps — by turning water into a plastic substance they can…

Not all birds molt the same way. Some species undergo a gradual feather change, allowing them to continue flying. Cranes, meanwhile, are highly skittish during their molting period and will…

Earth’s oceans cover about 361 million square kilometers. There’s about ten times more water in the oceans than the volume of land that sits above sea level. But is all…