The Abstract
What Happens if this Hazardous Asteroid Hits Earth?
A 1,600-foot-wide asteroid has a 0.037% chance of impacting Earth on September 24, 2182. What if we punch that unlucky ticket?
The Abstract
Who Made this Radioactive Saharan Dust Cloud?
Just how radioactive was that Saharan dust cloud that engulfed Europe in 2022?
News
The Moon Got Obliterated and Lost a Bunch of Craters
That’s my secret Captain…I’m always traumatized.
The Abstract
If Planet X Exists, It’s Running Out of Places to Hide
A tour of the outer solar system, from Pluto-Charon to Planet X, plus saber teeth and punky molluscs.
The Abstract
A 5,500-Year-Old Forest in Yellowstone Melted Out of the Ice
We begin 2025 with Amazonian garden cities, lost woods in the Rockies, battitude, and robot hoopers.
The Abstract
The Year in Abstracts: Obese Genomes and Banana Galaxies
We’re eating Suns and chillin’ in Moon caves for the last Abstract of 2024.
The Abstract
Disney Princesses Are at Risk of Rabies and Fatal Maulings
This week, the creature from the Pangean lagoon, casket shopping for Disney princesses, a horror show in ancient Somerset, and “Martifacts.”
The Abstract
The Data on Civilization-Ending Superflares
Don’t panic…yet. Also: A baby galaxy with a bedazzled name, tiny poops with big potential, and an ancient ritual compound in a secret cave chamber.
The Abstract
An Alternate Theory for How Life-Giving Water Came to Earth
Come along for a tale of mammoth meals, Venusian deserts, orbital splash parks, and slingshot-wielding spiders.
The Abstract
The Rise of the Dinosaurs, Written in Poop
This week, we explore the digestive products of dinosaurs, the sartorial skills of prehistoric peoples, the superpowers of a supreme squirter, and the effects of “repeated social defeat” in fish.
The Abstract
An Ancient Crystal from the Sahara Reveals a Lost World of Martian Water
This week, we’ll travel to ancient Mars, indulge in record-breaking “nanopasta,” check out nature’s version of fiber optic cables, and behold a galactic jellyfish.