Q: Is it possible to die of boredom? —Jerry A., 14, Virginia A : " To figure out if we can die of boredom, we first have to understand what boredom is. For help, we called James Danckert, a psychologist who studies boredom at the University of Waterl

Thirteen-year-old Sia needs a break. It seems he’s just been in a food fight—not the fun, silly school cafeteria kind but a serious one that resulted in a painful cut on his foot. He and his mom, Suzee, decide to rest, while his energetic toddler sis

On April 3, Jane Goodall has a big birthday: She turns 90 years old. Goodall is the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees. Her impressive career began more than 60 years ago! Today, she continues to keep a busy schedule, speaking often. As the Jane

What do you have in common with the aye-aye, sifaka, siamang, and potto? If you said your collarbone, you’re probably a primatologist—a person who studies primates. If you’re not, read on. Just like those animals with the weird names, you belong to t

In a steamy rainforest, an orangutan scales a tree, gripping and grabbing with fingers and toes. Palm fronds rustle. At the top, it uses its teeth and hairy hands to rip away the bark, revealing the ivory-colored center, the “heart of the palm.” High

A group of test-takers are all focused on a math exam. It consists of one problem, which most people cannot solve. Yet some of the test-takers get the right answer quickly and easily every time. Now here’s the surprise. The test-takers who can’t get

EVERYONE HAS AN INFINITE NUMBER of relatives, some of which are very far away, most of which are very old, and only a few of which are kids your age. Of the few relatives your age who live close, most are boys, and are not interesting. The boys claim

Feel the grass under you as you start rolling down the hill. You’re turning over and over, the world swirling into a kaleidoscope of green, blue, and sunlight. With every roll you can’t help but giggle. Finally, you come to a stop at the bottom, the

In August 2021 off the coast of Alaska, researchers had what may have been the first ever “conversation” with a humpback whale. The team included scientists who study whales, as well as one astronomer who works at the SETI Institute in Northern Calif

When you’re feeling sick, it probably doesn’t occur to you to try eating tree bark. But that’s precisely what some chimpanzees may do. You might already know that chimpanzees share plenty of similarities with humans: They play, they fight, they form

“Hello, Muse Crew!!!!” “This is your nightmare...” “Beckett! I told you not to say anything weird like that!! This is a professional letter!” “Um, hello? Weird is my signature trait! I had to say something after the way you started the letter! All ch

A CHIMPANZEE STICKS ITS FINGER THROUGH A HOLE IN ITS ENCLOSURE. Next, a researcher attaches a heart rate monitor to the finger. As the chimp sips on a juice reward for cooperating, a camera records its face. The images feed into an artificial intelli

The great apes are among the most popular animals in most zoos. Their actions, facial expressions, and family life remind us so much of ourselves. Have you ever wondered, though, how we might look to them? A modern, statistically based system of clas

A lot has happened for modern humans to get to this point. We lost most of our hair, learned how to make tools, established civilizations, sent a person to the Moon, and invented artificial intelligence. Whew! With all of these changes, our bodies ha

Palm oil is all around you. It’s in sugary snacks like cookies and candy bars. It’s in lipstick and shampoo and pet food. This cheap and versatile vegetable oil is everywhere. But in order to meet the worldwide demand for palm oil, large companies cr

Serge Wich’s favorite days at work are spent out in the forest, studying orangutans in Sumatra and Borneo or chimpanzees in Tanzania. When he’s not out in the field, he teaches primate biology and does research at Liverpool John Moores University in

The armies battled beneath the hot Sun. Neither side seemed to be winning. It was May 28, 585 BCE, the sixth year of war between the Lydians and the Medes in what is now Turkey. Suddenly, the light grew thin, and the air turned cold. A hole appeared

Jupiter and Saturn had been trading the title for the most moons of any planet in the solar system. In February 2023, Jupiter, the larger planet, pulled ahead. Twelve new moons had been discovered, pushing its total number of moons to 92. But just a

Once upon a time, Pluto was a planet. Then one day it wasn’t a planet. The end. That might be the world’s worst bedtime story. But it’s also 100 percent true. Following its discovery in 1930, little Pluto captured the imagination of anyone who looked

INDIA LANDED AN UNCREWED SPACECRAFT ON THE MOON FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AUGUST 2023. Japan just reached the Moon for the first time with a robotic spacecraft in January. And in 2026, the United States is set to land astronauts on the Moon for the first

Imagine a planet that spins so fast a day lasts not 24 hours but only six. Daytime is brief, and nighttime is only long enough for a nap. The planet’s moon rushes across the sky so close it looks 10 times larger than our familiar Moon! No, this is no

Tiny, lumpy, and whizzing around their planet in all directions. And not just one or two of them, but an entire swarm. Welcome to the surprising new moons of Saturn. Astronomer Edward Ashton led the team that recently discovered an astonishing 63 tin

e•clipse 1. verb. To cut in front of someone in line and pretend you haven’t done anything wrong 2. noun. An eclair presented as part of an apology 3. verb, slang. To accomplish a task effortlessly without preparation 4. somewhat improper noun. A sma

Q: Will humans evolve in the future? —Audrey, age 11, California A : “There’s no doubt in my mind,” says Chris Tyler-Smith, a geneticist at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in the United Kingdom. He has collected and studied data on genetic variation in

On April 14, 2023, a sleek rocket took off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, in northeast South America. It blasted beyond Earth’s atmosphere, soaring into the darkness of space. Onboard was a brand new space probe called the Jupiter Icy Moon