37 results for “life”
Life & Biology
The Origin of Life
Life is built from a surprisingly short list of parts: amino acids, which link into proteins
Article · 4 min read
Life & Biology
What Is Life? The Cell
life is made of cells, and if you want to understand what life is, you start
Article · 4 min read
Chemistry
The Chemistry of Life
Life builds its large molecules in a clever way: by joining small units, like beads on a string
Article · 3 min read
Space & the Universe
The Life of a Star
life the two are balanced, and the star shines steadily. When the fuel runs low, gravity
Article · 3 min read
Life & Biology
Dinosaurs and Mass Extinctions
life nearly ended five times. For most of the time there have been animals on land
Article · 3 min read
Planet Earth
The Oceans
Life in the sea Life began in the ocean, and most of its history has happened
Article · 4 min read
Life & Biology
Bacteria and Viruses
life and chemistry. Viruses infect every form of life. The most numerous are those that attack
Article · 4 min read
Animals
Reptiles and Amphibians
life's problems in their own way. Long before there were mammals or birds, the land
Article · 3 min read
Planets & the Solar System
Mars
life would need. In Jezero Crater, Perseverance is collecting rock samples from a river delta for eventual
Article · 4 min read
Chemistry
Water: The Strangest Ordinary Substance
life exists. Water is so common that it seems like the most normal substance in the world
Article · 3 min read
Planets & the Solar System
Saturn
life's ingredients assemble. NASA's Dragonfly, a nuclear-powered drone, is due to fly across
Article · 4 min read
Animals
The Octopus
life. Our intelligence comes from a backbone and a skull; theirs from the line that produced
Article · 3 min read
Plants & Fungi
Fungi
life would stall. The same ability makes them troublesome. Fungi rot timber, spoil food, mildew fabric
Article · 4 min read
The Human Body
The Skeleton and Bones
life Bone mass peaks in the late twenties and declines slowly after. In some people, especially
Article · 5 min read
Planet Earth
Rocks, Minerals and Fossils
life turned to stone Occasionally something living is buried before it rots. The soft parts decay
Article · 4 min read
Space & the Universe
Space Exploration
life on the ground as much as our view of the heavens. How rockets work A rocket
Article · 3 min read
Planet Earth
Plate Tectonics and Earthquakes
life can exist. Earth is the only planet we know with active plate tectonics, and that
Article · 4 min read
Matter, Energy & Physics
Energy and Heat
life Living things seem to defy this, building order out of chaos, but they do it by consuming
Article · 4 min read
Space & the Universe
Exoplanets: Worlds Around Other Stars
life. Astronomers start with a simple test: is the planet at the right distance from its star
Article · 3 min read
Animals
Insects
life. A caterpillar is an eating machine; a butterfly is a flying, mating machine; they do not compete
Article · 3 min read
The Human Body
Digestion
life, and it is reshaped throughout life by diet. Antibiotics can devastate it for weeks. Control
Article · 4 min read
Planets & the Solar System
Jupiter
life beyond Earth. NASA's Europa Clipper, launched in 2024, arrives in 2030. Visitors Pioneer and Voyager
Article · 3 min read
The Human Body
The Immune System
life. The first line Most invaders never get in. Skin is a tough, dry, acidic wall
Article · 4 min read
Planets & the Solar System
Comets, Asteroids and Pluto
life. The Kuiper belt and beyond Past Neptune lies the Kuiper belt, a vast doughnut of icy bodies
Article · 4 min read
Animals
Animal Migration
life on the move, nothing else comes close. Finding the way Migrating animals carry several compasses
Article · 4 min read
Life & Biology
DNA and Genes
life on Earth descends from a single ancestor. Your genome The complete set of DNA in an organism
Article · 4 min read
The Human Body
The Heart and Blood
life. About three billion beats. The heart is a muscle the size of your fist whose
Article · 4 min read
The Human Body
The Brain
life: learning a new skill, a language or a city's streets measurably alters its structure
Article · 4 min read
Plants & Fungi
Flowers and Pollination
life. The anatomy of an advertisement A flower has four parts. The outer sepals protect the bud. The petals
Article · 4 min read
Plants & Fungi
Carnivorous Plants
life can be. Their bogs and wetlands are among the fastest-disappearing habitats in the world
Article · 4 min read
Matter, Energy & Physics
Atoms
life is built on it. Every reaction, from rusting to breathing to burning, is electrons moving
Article · 4 min read
Life & Biology
Ecosystems and Food Webs
life runs on ecosystems. Forests and plankton make the oxygen; wetlands clean the water; insects pollinate
Article · 4 min read
Animals
Mammals
life drinking it. Milk lets a mother feed her young without them having to find food
Article · 4 min read
Life & Biology
Evolution
life changing through time. The oldest rocks hold only microbes. Then, about 540 million years ago, animals
Article · 4 min read
Space & the Universe
Nebulae
life, it puffs its outer layers into space over a few thousand years. The hot exposed
Article · 3 min read
Planet Earth
Weather and Climate
life is discussed more and understood less than the weather. Every cloud, breeze and downpour comes
Article · 4 min read
Planet Earth
The Atmosphere
life. Layers The atmosphere has no sharp top; it simply thins out until it merges with
Article · 4 min read
