An artist's rendering shows NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft descending toward the asteroid Bennu to collect a sample of the asteroid's surface. NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona hide caption
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Ryan and Jennifer Montano search through the remains of their Vacaville, Calif., home, destroyed in the LNU Lightning Complex Fire in August. Lauren Sommer/NPR hide caption
Fall foliage along Riverfront Drive in Reading, PA. MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle/MediaNews Group via Getty Images hide caption
Rural communities across the country, places largely spared during the early days of the pandemic, are now seeing spikes in infections and hospitalizations. Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
COVID-19 Surges In Rural Communities, Overwhelming Some Local Hospitals
The remnants of Hurricane Sandy churn up Lake Michigan in Chicago in 2012. Flood risk in the city is increasing as climate change drives more extreme rain, and renters face greater financial peril than homeowners. More than half of Chicagoans are renters, according to 2019 census data. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption
Most Tenants Get No Information About Flooding. It Can Cost Them Dearly
Passengers wear face masks at Tocumen International Airport in Panama City on Oct. 12. STR/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
From Air Travel to Hospital Treatment, We're Still Learning About The Virus
Dark Archives: A Librarian's Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin, by Megan Rosenbloom Farrar, Straus and Giroux hide caption
A California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection airplane drops fire retardant along a burning hill during the Glass Fire in Calistoga, Calif., in September. California is one of two states to require wildfire risk be disclosed to new homebuyers. Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Millions Of Homes Are At Risk Of Wildfires, But It's Rarely Disclosed
Recruiting patients for medical studies has been challenging during the pandemic, especially older people who are more vulnerable to COVID-19. Getty Images hide caption
A Big Alzheimer's Drug Study Is Proceeding Cautiously Despite The Pandemic
Lachlan (left) and Lillian Barilleau play in the backyard of their home in Central, La. They were displaced from the house for months after a flood in 2016. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption
In his book How To, Randall Munroe explores whether you could open enough water bottles to fill a swimming pool — using nuclear weapons. Riverhead Books hide caption
Randall Munroe's Absurd Scientific Advice For Real-World Problems
Mental health advocates say 988, a simple three-digit number, will be easier for people to remember in the midst of a mental health emergency. T2 Images/Getty Images/Cultura RF hide caption
This mosaic image of asteroid Bennu is composed of 12 images collected on Dec. 2, 2018 by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft from a range of 15 miles. NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona hide caption
Conceptual artwork of quantum entanglement, one of the consequences of quantum theory. Two particles will appear to be linked across space and time, with changes to one of the particles (such as an observation or measurement) affecting the other one. Mark Garlick/Getty Images/Science Photo Libra hide caption
The Washington State Department of Agriculture team tracked the Asian giant hornet for about an hour earlier this month, before losing her signal in a forest. Courtesy of the Washington State Department of Agriculture hide caption
Rebecca Knill speaks at TED@WellsFargo, February 5, 2020, at the Knight Theater in Charlotte, NC. Photo: Ryan Lash / TED Ryan Lash/Courtesy of TED hide caption
Rebecca Knill: Technology Has Come So Far—When Will Our Mindset Catch-Up?
Dallas Taylor speaks as part of TED2020: Uncharted. May 21, 2020. Photo courtesy of TED. Courtesy of TED/Courtesy of TED hide caption
jimhudspeth_2019s-embed Ryan Lash/Courtesy of TED hide caption
Jim Hudspeth: How Do We Hear — And How Do We Lose Our Ability To Hear?
Emily Garti, a junior studying nutrition, gets her twice-weekly COVID-19 test at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Elissa Nadworny/NPR hide caption
Tobacco plants are being used in the development of COVID-19 vaccines. One is already being tested in humans. Rehman Asad/Barcroft Media via Getty Images hide caption
Tobacco Plants Contribute Key Ingredient For COVID-19 Vaccine
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says Thanksgiving gatherings could cause coronavirus cases to rise even faster than they already are. Graeme Jennings/POOL/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Pandemic 'Halftime': U.S. Looks At Lessons Learned As Fall & Holidays Near
"The excitement for me has been to slowly uncover the secret lives of many of these cryptic animals," says Craig Foster. "My incredible octopus teacher, she helped me in many ways to uncover many of those lives, because she's in the middle of this food web." Netflix hide caption
Filmmaker Finds An Unlikely Underwater Friend In 'My Octopus Teacher'
