Human eyes are well-designed to see objects using light transmitted through air, but not through water, because light travels at a different speed through the two media. However, intertidal-dwelling marine mollusks called chitons can see equally well in both environments. How did they acquire this unusual ability?

The human hand is undeniably a work of wonder. Its layout and suite of design features enable mankind―the only possessors of this particular arrangement of bones, tendons, muscles, and nerves―to type faster than 60 words per minute or swing a heavy hammer while holding a delicate potato chip. What would it take to duplicate a human hand?

The more that is known about the human body, the more amazing its construction turns out to be. A recent New York Times article focused on eyeball optimization: "[The] basic building blocks of human eyesight turn out to be practically perfect."¹

A recent narrative-style article in Smithsonian magazine highlighted research in the largely unexplored Congo River in central Africa, where researchers have identified new fish species. The researchers preliminarily confirmed that strong currents in deep waters had isolated the breeding populations of certain fishes, including the bottom-feeding elephant fish.

United States lawmakers are considering a bill whose purpose is “to make energy more expensive, so people use less of it and to create a penalty for carbon-based fuels.”¹ Its intent is to reduce the emission of the greenhouse gases that are supposedly fueling global warming.