Why do your joints hurt when it's cold? And what you can do to ease the aches. Winter can amplify aches and pains through pressure shifts, reduced movement, and muscle tightening. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Each winter, over a million "snowbirds" descend on places like Florida and Arizona to avoid the season's freezing temperatures and instead, ride it out in warmth.

A 2024 study found that cats learn to associate images with words faster than human babies. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. "My cat always watches my phone as I text or read a book," someone wrote on Reddit . "Even right now she is on my shoulder, intently watching what I am typing on this post. Can she read or is she just interested in what I am doing?"

Why do elephants have such big ears? The multi-use appendages are kind of like their superpower. The African elephant has some of the world's biggest ears, measuring more than six feet long and more than four feet wide. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. While real life elephants can't fly, they certainly have enormous ears.

Why our bodies shake when it's cold. Involuntary muscle contractions keep us warm and even fight infections. "Shivering is a way for our bodies to generate heat when we are cold," says Dr. Natasha Bhuyan, a family physician based in Phoenix, Arizona. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. You're walking down a Chicago street on a blustery winter day, when a particularly strong wind almost whips you off of your feet.

Jon Kotwicki jokes that converting an aluminum plane in Alaska is the "worst idea that a person could possibly have." This 108-foot-long former cargo plane now has a king size bed, washer dryer, and heated floors, but the build was by no means easy. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. When flight instructor and former commercial airline pilot Jon Kotwicki happened upon a DC-6 air freighter for sale in 2022, he knew it was the perfect plane to transform into an overnight rental. However, once he made the purchase, "my first thought," says Kotwicki, "was, 'My God, what have I done?'" Built in 1956, the 117-foot-wide, 108-foot-long cargo plane had spent its days carrying freight and fuel to remote villages in Alaska before retiring from flight.

Our noses take a shortcut to our happiest memories. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Pine is one of those scents that can change a room, and your mood, in an instant. One whiff, and suddenly you're transported to a world of woodsy snowscapes, twinkling lights, a fresh-cut tree shedding needles in your childhood living room . The scent soothing and joyful but why? Turns out the answer has less to do with what's inside the tree, and everything to do with what's inside us.

One's temporary, the other is often built in. A bad night's sleep is far from the only reason we can get eye bags or dark circles. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Whether it was caused by a night out with friends, a crying baby, or plain old insomnia, we all know that lack of sleep affects our bodies. In addition to fatigue and a yearning for coffee, poor sleep can leave us frowning at the dark, swollen circles under our eyes.

Why are most people right-handed? A mix of biology, environment, and evolution helps explain our rightie-dominated world. Around 85 to 90 percent of people are right-handed. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Roughly 85 to 90 percent of people are right-handed, while just 10 to 15 percent are left-handed, and a small percentage are ambidextrous.

Science Ask Us Anything What is human composting? A new'Ask Us Anything' podcast episode digs into how human bodies can be turned into nutrient-rich soil. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Do you know what want to have happen to your body after you die? Do you want to be cremated, buried, or given an epic Viking burial? While it may seem macabre, it's important to think about so our loved ones don't have to while their in the throes of grief. On this episode of, editors Sarah Durn and Annie Colbert dig into a novel way people are choosing to handle their bodies after they die: human composting.

Do you need more sleep in fall and winter? Less sunlight, colder weather, and diet changes make us sleepier--and that's OK. Winter mornings make staying under the covers feel impossible to resist. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. It's a crisp, fall day in mid-November, and though your calendar is filled with evening get-togethers and morning runs, you're feeling sluggish.