MinuteEarth

Because of the chaotic way fingerprints develop and the multiplying effect of compound probability, it's basically impossible for any two fingers to have matching prints.

Scientists are trying to figure out if they can predict big earthquakes by simulating small quakes in labs and studying big quakes under the ocean.

Concrete is responsible for 8% of humanity’s carbon emissions because making its key ingredient - cement - chemically releases CO2, and because we burn fossil fuels to make it happen.

With our current understanding of evolutionary history and our strategy of cladistic naming, if we wanted to have both goldfish and sharks under a single group called "fish", then mammals must also be called fish.

Wave power hasn’t yet made a splash because it’s hard to use waves to spin turbines, and because the sea is a harsh place to build things.

Lyme disease is spreading like wildfire around the world: here's why.

Humans can hold our breath longer than we think by taking advantage of our body’s innate survival instincts - and then ignoring them.

Morocco has 3/4 of the world’s known reserves of rock phosphate, our main source of phosphorus, so Morocco may be key to our long-term ability to grow food.

Cancer has proven hard to beat, but a promising new type of treatment can use the disease's own powers against it.

Basic research can seem wasteful, but it's actually a great economic investment.

The technology we use to keep cool is heating the world in a vicious feedback cycle, so we need to improve it and use it less.

Aquatic cyanobacteria first oxygenated earth’s air, making human life possible; now, due to our actions, cyanobacteria are madly blooming once more, poisoning our coasts in the process.

Observing the effects of microbes using satellites can give us all sorts of useful information about life on Earth ... and other planets too.

The decisions we make while we browse the internet are suprisingly similar to the ones animals make as they forage for food...here's why.

Ditches and drain pipes help crops survive but can negatively impact the broader landscape.

Because exercise isn't essential for short-term survival, we don't exercise enough, so we need to reincorporate purposeful physical activity into our lives.

The same enzyme that used to save us is now killing us because the body reactions it catalyzes now cause more harm than good.

Learning a new language as an adult is harder than doing so as a child because adults usually aren’t as invested and often use the wrong strategies.

Trees can take an astounding amount of carbon out of the air, which is good, because we need to do that times a trillion.

We ranked dragons based on how biologically and evolutionarily plausible they are.

The way smartphones made many devices nonessential is a model for a new way to think about improving energy efficiency.

New technology has revolutionized how we study wild animals, but it has also bogged down scientists with data...luckily, there's an *intelligent* solution.

We’re in the middle of a rapid, unprecedented, and world-changing increase in the intensity and scale of human activity on this planet.

Experts can't agree on the definition of the term "concussion," which makes it difficult to diagnose, treat, and research this important brain injury.

Fruit trees are unpredictable and grow slowly, and consumer tastes are fickle, so successful new varieties of fruit are rare.

Because the ossification process can differ so much from human to human, we have a wide range of potential bone numbers.