Validation of the greenhouse effect may have been misattributed

The greenhouse effect was discovered by analyzing Earth's temperature

Using mathematical techniques developed to analyze heat transfer, Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier showed that Earth should be significantly cooler if solar radiation were the only contributor to its surface temperature. By considering that the atmosphere could amplify the sun's warming effect, he formulated what became known as the greenhouse effect.

Watch a demonstration of the greenhouse effect in carbon dioxide

Some online experiments involving glass containers of air and carbon dioxide show no temperature differences upon exposure to infrared light because glass blocks that type of radiation. Using plastic bags, carbon dioxide can be demonstrated to absorb infrared radiation, thereby trapping energy and confirming its role as a greenhouse gas.

Radioactivity was accidentally discovered when uranium left marks on photographic plates

In 1896, Henri Becquerel had been exploring phosphorescence—the emission of light of one color after an object is exposed to another color. He expected these emissions to come from objects exposed to sunlight, but he observed emissions after an overcast day.

How geometry and uneven charge distribution make some molecules greenhouse gases

Molecules vibrate and rotate with different frequencies based on their elemental composition and shape, which can produce uneven distributions of electrons, as seen in carbon dioxide and water. The resulting unbalanced electric field can interact with electromagnetic waves of the same frequency, causing the molecule to absorb the radiation.

Marie Curie's research in radioactivity made her the first woman to win a Nobel Prize

Overcoming social and academic barriers, Curie's realization that radiation resulted from an intrinsic property of atoms reframed scientific understanding of the phenomenon. Her subsequent work in discovering two new elements—polonium and radium—earned her a second Nobel Prize.

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin discovered stars are mostly made of hydrogen and helium

At 25, her doctoral thesis challenged the then-common belief that stars were composed similarly to Earth. Several years later, Henry Norris Russell, who had initially dismissed her findings, independently made the same discovery and received credit for it.

Why David Attenborough was skeptical about global warming before bringing attention to it

Believing he was "experiencing the untouched natural world" in his early documentary series, Attenborough has admitted that many of his assumptions about human action were incorrect. It was not until attending a 2004 lecture on greenhouse gases and global temperatures that he became convinced of the science.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

A look at the giants of quantum mechanics

German physicist Max Planck publishes his groundbreaking study of the effect of radiation on a “blackbody” substance, and the quantum theory of modern physics

Why the Antarctic climate enabled British scientists to discover the ozone hole

In the Antarctic stratosphere, polar conditions facilitate the formation of polar stratospheric clouds, which allow chlorine compounds from chlorofluorocarbons to accumulate. In 1985, British Antarctic Survey scientists detected massive springtime losses over Antarctica, as accumulated compounds destroyed significant amounts of ozone once sunlight returned.

A collective effort from multiple scientists and inventors led to the light bulb

While Thomas Edison's thin carbon filament design made light bulbs commercially viable, prior contributions, such as Joseph Swan's development of the first successful incandescent filament electric lamp, made its eventual invention possible.

Tracing the history of refrigeration

Refrigeration has become critical to most of our lives. But not long ago, it wasn't available. How did we become so dependent on our fridges and freezers? This fun, informative podcast traces the history of keeping it cool with ice and...

Scientists testing how climate change affected plants found in a years-long simulation study that poison ivy grew 70% faster than it did without extra carbon dioxide

The experiments in the 1990s were designed to simulate potential 2050 conditions, using carefully controlled circular forest plots with gas pumped into them.

Scientists testing how climate change affects plants found, in a years-long simulation study, that poison ivy grew 70% faster with the resulting extra carbon dioxide.

The Google Doodle honoring Jan Ingenhousz, who discovered oxygenic photosynthesis

Born in 1730, the Dutch scientist expanded on existing knowledge that plants produce and absorb gases in his 1779 paper, which detailed that light was necessary for the biochemical processes that produce oxygen in plant leaves. He also identified that all parts of plants produce carbon dioxide at night.

Infrared light is most often associated with thermal radiation and cooking food

Although extensively used in remote controls for electronics, where LED lights send signals wirelessly, infrared cameras allow for night vision and thermography—imaging of heat patterns in the body to non-invasively reveal blood flow for supplementary diagnostics. Infrared radiation also provides heat in toasters, saunas, and other technologies.

The origin of atmospheric science while testing nuclear weapons during the Cold War

The arms race between the US and the Soviet Union saw both countries stockpiling and detonating hundreds of bombs underground, underwater, and in the atmosphere. To better predict where nuclear fallout would travel after these tests, scientists developed models that would serve as a foundation for those used to explain atmospheric circulation.

Exploring carbon compound pore structures contributed to improved gas mask filtration

During World War II, the British Coal Utilisation Research Association sought to improve the efficiency of coal as an energy source and studied the effectiveness of charcoal filters to keep soldiers safe. Rosalind Franklin's research there formed the basis of her PhD and led to five scientific papers.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Will-o'-the-wisps may be the result of microlightning between bubbles

Methane and air bubbles moving through water can generate small sparks between them, which can ignite gas. The above-ground phenomenon may have historically been the result of passing travelers igniting swamp gas with their lanterns. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

A medieval warm period reshaped agriculture across parts of the world

Between 750 and 1350 CE, some regions experienced temperatures that rivaled or exceeded late-20th-century averages, likely due to shifts in El Niño–La Niña cycles. The warmer, wetter climate in Europe and northeast North America boosted agriculture, while causing droughts elsewhere.

The cholera bacteria was first isolated in 1854—but the discovery was largely ignored

The pathogen was isolated by the Italian physician Filippo Pacini in Florence, Italy, though his discovery was largely ignored in favor of the popular miasma—bad air—theory of disease at the time. The pathogen was separately isolated about three decades later by German microbiologist Robert Koch.

A list of five scientific theories that were accepted and later disproved

Humoral theory held that everyone's personality derived from different combinations of four bodily fluids: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. The phlogiston theory stated that all combustible materials possessed a fire element—phlogiston—that was released and absorbed by the air during burning. When the air became saturated with phlogiston, the fire would go out.

Wood that changed the color of water was the earliest recorded example of fluorescence

Lignum nephriticum, a tea used to treat kidney and urinary illnesses, was described in the 16th century as derived from white wood that turned water a bluish hue. However, in the 17th century, accounts described the wood as reddish and creating a kaleidoscope of colors in water. In 1915, the sources were identified as two different woods, which absorb UV radiation and emit visible light.

Published photography from JWST are false-color images

The James Webb Telescope captures invisible light, not photos. Scientists then color-map wavelengths of infrared light to show us the invisible universe.

The finite speed of light means we can only perceive the world's past

When objects emit or reflect light, it takes time for the light to reach an observer and be detected. During the travel time, the object may have changed, limiting detections to describing the conditions of the object when the light was first emitted or reflected, before it was detected.

Using wind tunnels, the brothers corrected a centuries-old error used to measure lift

When their early gliders failed, the Wright brothers scrutinized inherited data analysis. Smeaton’s coefficient had been used to calculate the density of air (0.005) for centuries. The Wright’s data validation through the use of small, laboratory wind tunnels showed the correct number was 0.0033.

Heatstroke treatment guidelines were built almost exclusively on research in men

Protocols for the standard treatment recommendation for heatstroke—whole-body cold water immersion—were built based on studies almost entirely in men. The research wasn't replicated in women, who typically cool faster than men during cold water immersion, raising questions about standard protocol safety for women, due to the risk of overcooling.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings are often assumed to be sexual, though the artist claimed she was simply interested in highlighting the beauty of flowers that most people neglect

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

All rainbows are 'raincircles' caused by water droplets separating white sunlight into a spectrum of colors, but Earth's surface blocks the bottom half of the circle from our line of sight.

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

The original copy of the Declaration of Independence is not a pristine document, and even features a smudged anonymous handprint in the bottom left corner.

Dirty lightning is a thunderstorm created from friction between rising and falling flows of ash and smoke during volcanic eruptions.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

The first horror movie is believed to be George Méliès' 1986 short 'The Haunted Castle,' which pioneered the use of special effects

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

How the most famous Ebola book, The Hot Zone, which sold 3.5 million copies and was translated into 30 languages, got aspects of the disease so wrong.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.