Top 10 things about brown recluse spiders

It's their active season. Here are some things you might not know.

Earth’s magnetosphere envelops and protects us

A giant bubble of magnetism protects us from the sun's fury. Take 3 minutes to learn about it, in this new NASA ScienceCast video.

Sahara Desert is expanding

A new study finds that the world’s largest desert has grown by 10 percent since 1920.

Does space weather threaten high-tech life?

The wired Earth of the 21st century is at the mercy of the volatile nature of the sun, says a scientist who studies solar storms.

Antarctic ice grounding lines are shifting

Europe's CryoSat satellite was used - over 7 years - to track 10,000 miles (16,000 km) of Antarctic coastline. It can be seen warm ocean water is eating away at Antarctica's floating margins.

Blackbirds in the city: Bad health, longer life

Blackbirds live longer in cities than in forests. But a new genetic analysis suggest that city birds have much poorer health than their rural cousins.

Watch a robot fish swim in the ocean

MIT computer scientists have developed SoFi - a soft, robot fish made of silicone rubber - that can swim alongside real fish in the ocean.

The amazing feathers of an outlandish bird

The super-black feathers of Birds of Paradise absorb almost every last bit of light that strikes them. This black is so dark your eyes can't focus on its surface.

Arctic winter sea ice extent 2nd lowest

Sea ice in the Arctic grew to its annual maximum extent last week, and joined 2015, 2016 and 2017 as the 4 lowest maximum extents on record, say scientists

Great Pacific Garbage Patch now 3 times size of France

In 2015, a mega-expedition - 30 vessels simultaneously - crossed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and collected 1.2 million plastic samples. They say the problem is getting worse.