$35 Billion Gone. How One Trading Bet Went So Wrong
Losing a million dollars is a disaster for most investors. Losing a billion is the kind of event that can destroy a financial institution. Yet in July…
They Spent Billions Trying to Build a Miniature Sun. It’s Still Not Ready
For decades, scientists have pursued one of the most ambitious ideas in modern energy: reproduce the nuclear fusion that powers the Sun and turn it into a…
This 1958 Car Looked Like a Spaceship—and It Actually Ran
In 1958, General Motors built a car that looked less like a family automobile and more like something from a science-fiction movie. The Firebird III had a…
Saturn Already Had a Hexagon. Now a 10-Sided Shape Is Appearing
For decades, astronomers searched Saturn’s southern skies for a counterpart to the planet’s famous northern hexagon. They found nothing like it. Then Hubble images revealed something unexpected:…
At 91, He Fell 71 Times. He Still Reclaimed the Appalachian Trail Record
At 91, Dale “Grey Beard” Sanders had already done something most people would consider impossible: complete the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Then he decided to…
Forget Water. It May Rain Diamonds Inside These Planets
Far beneath the clouds of Uranus and Neptune, conditions become so extreme that ordinary materials behave in extraordinary ways. Scientists think the crushing pressure can break methane…
The Nearest Star Is 4.24 Light-Years Away. So Why Are We Still Stuck Here?
The nearest star system is only about 4.24 light-years away, yet sending humans there is far beyond anything we can do today. The challenge is not simply…
Ten Days After Nepal’s Floods, Rescuers Are Still Finding People Alive
Ten days after a catastrophic flood tore through Nepal’s Himalayan valleys, rescue teams are still finding people alive. On September 5, rescuers pulled a Chinese worker from…
The Chess Machine That Fooled Napoleon, Franklin and Thousands of Others
In 1770, a strange machine appeared at the court of Empress Maria Theresa and did something that seemed impossible: it played chess against human opponents—and won. The…
They Built a $100 Billion City for 700,000 People. Then It Became a Ghost Town
Forest City was supposed to become a futuristic paradise near Singapore, built on artificial islands with enough homes for more than 700,000 people. Instead, rows of luxury…