Two Strangers Met on 9/11. They Had 1,620 Stairs to Escape
On September 11, 2001, Stanley Praimnath and Brian Clark were complete strangers working in different companies inside the South Tower of the World Trade Center. When United…
They Said This African Lake Turns Animals to Stone. The Truth Is Stranger
For years, photographs of birds and bats beside Tanzania’s Lake Natron have made the place look like a natural death trap. The animals appear frozen in lifelike…
One Man’s Blood Helped Save 2.4 Million Babies. Here’s Why It Was So Rare
James Harrison was not a doctor, scientist, or medical researcher. He was an ordinary Australian man who began donating blood after surviving major surgery as a teenager—and…
He Took the Forbidden Book to His Grave. Then Someone Tried to Bring Him Back
For centuries, Icelandic folklore has told of a mysterious book called Rauðskinna, or “Red Skin,” said to contain some of the darkest magic ever recorded in Iceland….
$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…