50 Shades of Gray Whales

Something dark and invisible makes up as much as 90 to 95 percent of the universe—and it took a little girl staring out a bedroom window at the night sky to bring it to light. As a child, Vera Rubin built her own telescope. As an adult, she uncovered a problem no telescope could ...  Show more

A string of unsolved murders in San Francisco's Chinatown in the 1970s led police to the door of a young Korean immigrant named Chol Soo Lee — who was quickly arrested and sentenced to life in prison. But when investigative journalist K.W. Lee started digging into the case, he di ...  Show more

In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, in 1819, Owen Chase is standing on a slowly sinking ship. It's just been headbutted by an 85 foot whale. It's taking in water. And now the creature is coming back for another go. This is a whaling ship, and Chase is convinced that he observes " ...  Show more

How do whales use their blowholes to breathe, and what keeps them from filling up with water? There’s no better way to find out than getting up close and personal with whales! That’s what marine mammal biologist Justine Hudson did when she collected whale snot from belugas. Snot ...  Show more

Killer whales — orcas — eat all sorts of animals, including humpback calves. But one day, biologists saw a group of humpback whales trying to stop some killer whales from eating… a seal. And then it happened again. And again. It turns out, all across the oceans, humpback whale ...

Ever since the discovery of whale songs almost 60 years ago, scientists have been trying to decipher the lyrics.

But sperm whales don’t produce the eerie melodies sung by humpback whales,<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1970/05/26/archives/whales-sing-siren-song-for-scie ...