cookies to track usage and preferences."
data-cookieaccepttext="I UNDERSTAND"
data-cookiedeclinetext="Disable Cookies"
data-cookiepolicytext="Privacy Policy">
COMIC: The feisty orange-black butterfly uses a toolbox of biological tricks to find its way down to Mexico for winter and flap north again in spring. Here’s how scientists figured out those tricks — and what they don’t yet understand.
COMIC: As it spreads throughout the world, the virus that causes Covid-19 has been changing. Scientists are tracking those changes, hoping to stay one step ahead of worrisome strains.
COMIC: Bite marks, shoe prints, crime-scene fibers: Matches to suspects are often far shakier than courtroom experts claim. Better statistical methods — among them, a little beast known as the “likelihood ratio” — can cut down on wrong convictions.
COMIC: Do forests warm or cool the Earth? What’s their effect on global climate change? A comic narrated by polymath Benjamin Franklin describes the evolution of thought on this issue and what we still don’t know.
COMIC: When, why and how did neurons first evolve? Scientists are piecing together the ancient story.
Close X
Science literacy is more important than ever. Help us combat misinformation.
Knowable Magazine’s award-winning science journalism is freely available for anyone, anywhere in the world. Our work provides a vital service in increasing the public’s understanding of science. But to keep everything free to read, we need your help. Donate today and help us inspire and inform readers everywhere.
