Sign Up for Our Amazing Newsletter!
A daily update by email. Science news, great photos, sky alerts.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Posts by
Editors of EarthSky
What makes the night sky dark?
On any clear evening, you can see the curved line of Earth's shadow ascending in the eastern sky. Earth's own shadow makes the night sky dark.
October 9, 2009
How do Monarch butterflies migrate?
Monarch butterflies of eastern and central North America migrate each fall, over great distances, to the same winter homes of their great-great grandparents.
October 1, 2009
Are viruses transmitted more easily when it’s cold?
There's a lot that's unknown about flu viruses, but flu season does happen in the winter so does a virus spread more easily when it's cold?
October 1, 2009
If Earth is rotating, why don’t airplanes move backwards?
As you sit on the runway, your plane is already moving at the same speed Earth spins because the Earth is rotating.
September 30, 2009
Do identical twins have the same fingerprints?
The prints of identical twins are more alike than the prints of two completely unrelated people - but they're not identical.
September 30, 2009
Do some animals grow throughout their lives?
Many animals can get as big as their environment and diet allow.
September 23, 2009
What gives flames their tongue-like shapes?
Flames get their "tongue-like" shapes from the way burning gases move and interact under earthly gravity.
September 23, 2009
What makes hair curly?
Certain kinds of chemical bonds may change the shape of individual hair molecules, folding them back for an overall curly effect.
September 23, 2009
How sensitive is are ants sense of smell?
The kind of ants you see in your kitchen probably have a few thousand of these "smell cells," and the cells are tuned to different classes of odors.
September 23, 2009
Is my car’s fuel made of dead dinosaurs?
Fossil fuels consist mainly of dead plants - coal from trees, and natural gas and oil from algae, a kind of water plant, not dead dinosaurs.
September 23, 2009
