Curious Kids[1] is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. [2]. Is it possible to make a phone through which we can smell, like we can hear and see? – Muneeba K, 10, Pakistan Imagine this: You pick up your phone for a video call with a
... Genetically modified varieties are coming out of the lab and into homes and gardens
As any avid gardener will tell you, plants with sharp thorns and prickles can leave you looking like you’ve had a run-in with an angry cat. Wouldn’t it be nice to rid plants of their prickles entirely but keep the tasty fruits and beautiful flowers?
I’m a geneticist[1] who, along with my colleagues, recently discovered the gene that...
How researchers measure wildfire smoke exposure doesn’t capture long-term health effects − and hides racial disparities
Kids born in 2020 worldwide will experience twice the number of wildfires[1] during their lifetimes compared with those born in 1960. In California and other western states, frequent wildfires have become as much a part of summer and fall as popsicles and Halloween candy.
Wildfires produce fine particulate matter, or PM₂.₅[2], that chokes...
Sunflowers make small moves to maximize their Sun exposure − physicists can model them to predict how they grow
Most of us aren’t spending our days watching our houseplants grow. We see their signs of life only occasionally – a new leaf unfurled, a stem leaning toward the window.
But in the summer of 1863, Charles Darwin lay ill in bed, with nothing to do but watch his plants so closely that he could detect their small movements to and fro....