A version of this story appears in the September 2020 issue of National Geographic magazine. Philadelphia detected its first case of a deadly, fast-spreading strain of influenza on September 17, 1918.

Our capacity for exerting effort is limited. It makes sense that we reserve energy for the times we want or need to achieve something. However, you might be surprised by the vast extent to which a ...

Loggerhead hatchlings travel thousands of miles guided by an astonishing built-in navigation system that uses the Earth’s magnetic field. Scientists trained young turtles to “dance” in response to ...

Because what could be worse than having to control eight legs? Why, controlling sixteen legs, of course. And yet, annoyingly, Tentacle Tango wasn’t built with the intention of making such tasks easy, ...