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Reading to young kids improves their social skills − and a new study shows it doesn’t matter whether parents stop to ask questions

February 13, 2026 at 7:30 PM

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📖❤️ Researchers at the University of Virginia found that #reading to kids for two weeks strengthens the neural pathways used to understand others' perspectives. #neuroscience

👉 theconversation.com/reading-...

New research shows that parents who read to their 6- to 8-year-olds nightly boost their children’s creativity and empathy.

theconversation.com

February 13, 2026 at 4:30 PM

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🐘🍕 Scientists have discovered the secret to an elephant's gentle touch: their whiskers are built with a "stiffness gradient." While most mammals move their whiskers to feel around, #elephants have "baked-in" intelligence in the hairs themselves. #biology

👉 arstechnica.com/science/2026...

Unique structure of elephant whiskers give them built-in sensing "intelligence"

The material properties change gradually from base to tip for better navigation, more precise manipulation.

arstechnica.com

February 13, 2026 at 3:00 PM

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🐙🩺 How do you perform a medical checkup on a creature that's strong, slimy, and smart enough to solve puzzles? #octopus #science

👉 Learn more: thekidshouldseethis.com/post...

Aquarist René Carbajal smiles as Chica, a giant Pacific octopus, extends its suckered arms to wrap around his arm and the edge of a tank at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

February 13, 2026 at 2:10 PM

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🦧🧼 Researchers in the #Borneo rainforest captured footage of wild #orangutans using bars of soap to wash themselves, a behavior originally learned from observing humans. The unique activity has now spread naturally through the wild population.

👉 www.discoverwildlife.com/tv/...

“Astonishing behaviour.” Filmmakers left a robot orangutan in the Borneo rainforest. The footage helped solve a mystery that puzzled scientists | Discover Wildlife

Wild orangutans in the Borneo rainforest have been observed washing themselves with soap – but researchers weren't sure why

This 14-Year-Old Is Using Origami to Imagine Emergency Shelters That Are Sturdy, Cost-Efficient and Easy to Deploy

February 13, 2026 at 1:30 PM

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💁🏻‍♀️ ICYMI: 🖊️✨ The sound of a pen on paper is the only thing you hear in these peaceful spirograph demos.

The creator uses a specialized system called Wild Gears to draw "water and sky" patterns in real-time, surrounded by the sounds of nature. #art #design

👉 Learn more: zurl.co/rExvL

A person uses an orange pen and clear, laser-cut Wild Gears to draw a blue and green star-shaped spirograph pattern on a white surface next to a row of colorful markers.

February 13, 2026 at 1:00 PM

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@tksst.bsky.social

📄🏗️ 14-year-old Miles Wu discovered that a specific #origami pattern called Miura-ori can support 10,000 times its own weight.

Now, he’s using that ancient folding technique to design sturdy, low-cost emergency shelters that can be deployed in seconds. #engineering

👉 www.smithsonianmag.com/innov...

Miles Wu folded a variant of the Miura-ori pattern that can hold 10,000 times its own weight

Feeling More Hate Than Love This Valentine's Day? Send Snarky 'Vinegar Valentines' to Your Enemies Like the Victorians Did

February 13, 2026 at 12:00 PM

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@tksst.bsky.social

💌🍋 In the 19th century, not every Valentine was about love. Millions of Victorians sent "vinegar valentines" – snarky, anonymous cards designed to insult, offend, and put people in their place. #history #valentinesday

👉 www.smithsonianmag.com/histo...

These oft-anonymous messages took aim at pretentious poets, unhelpful salespeople, suffragists and secessionists alike

Weighing a tonne and packed with hundreds of rooms – each home to a family — it can house a staggering 500 households. Is this the ultimate apartment block? | Discover Wildlife

February 13, 2026 at 10:30 AM

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@tksst.bsky.social

💁🏻‍♀️ ICYMI: 🌽🌱 Every kernel on a cob is a seed that can grow into a new stalk of corn. But does it actually need to be planted in the ground to sprout? #timelapse #science

👉 Learn more: thekidshouldseethis.com/post...

A yellow corn cob sits horizontally on a dark surface, with many of its kernels sprouted into several-inch-long, thin green stalks and visible white roots.

February 13, 2026 at 10:00 AM

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🐦🏠 Researchers have found that sociable weavers in southern #Africa build massive communal nests that can house 500 #birds and last for over a century.

👉 www.discoverwildlife.com/ani...

It’s the heaviest, largest, most densely populated bird nest… that's been built and extended over decades

Ancient sharks once swam in this landlocked state

February 12, 2026 at 10:00 PM

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🦈🦴 Arkansas is hundreds of kilometers from the ocean, but it's home to some of the world's most pristine shark fossils.

A unique chemical "glitch" on the ancient seafloor preserved entire 3D skeletons – not just teeth. #paleontology #sharks

👉 www.popsci.com/science/ancie...

'Sharkansas' contains entire fossilized skeletons dating back 320 million years.

It weighs up to a whopping 30kg, has a diameter of 50cm and is the biggest seed on the planet | Discover Wildlife

February 12, 2026 at 8:00 PM

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@tksst.bsky.social

🌽🌱 Every kernel on a cob is a seed that can grow into a new stalk of corn. But does it actually need to be planted in the ground to sprout? #timelapse #science

👉 Learn more: thekidshouldseethis.com/post...

February 12, 2026 at 7:56 PM

The Kid Should See This

@tksst.bsky.social

🖊️✨ The sound of a pen on paper is the only thing you hear in these peaceful spirograph demos.

The creator uses a specialized system called Wild Gears to draw "water and sky" patterns in real-time, surrounded by the sounds of nature. #art #design

👉 Learn more: thekidshouldseethis.com/post...

February 12, 2026 at 7:29 PM

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@tksst.bsky.social

🌴🥥 On a few small islands in the Seychelles, the coco-de-mer palm grows seeds so massive they can weigh as much as a 7-year-old child.

👉 www.discoverwildlife.com/tre...

The coco-de-mer, a native tree of the Seychelles, has record-breaking seeds which can reach a whopping 40-50cm in diameter. But why do they grow so big?

No, bears don't actually hibernate

February 12, 2026 at 6:00 PM

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@tksst.bsky.social

🐻💤 We’ve always been told bears spend the winter hibernating, but they actually use a different survival trick called "torpor." Unlike true hibernators that practically shut down, #bears stay just active enough to shift around and even give birth. #wildlife

👉 www.popsci.com/environment/d...

Their winter survival trick is a months-long power-save mode—and scientists think it could help humans, too.

This Scientist Brewed and Drank His Own 'Vaccine Beer' to Combat a Dangerous Virus. It Seems to Have Worked

February 12, 2026 at 4:00 PM

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@tksst.bsky.social

🍺🧪 Could a pint of #beer replace a needle? Virologist Christopher Buck engineered common brewer’s yeast to carry a vaccine against a common virus, then tested it by brewing – and drinking – the results. #health

👉 www.smithsonianmag.com/smart...

Blood tests revealed that the beverage elicited an immune response, according to preliminary research. But far more safety and efficacy testing would be needed before this vaccine could become available

Edison's 129-Year-Old Patent Held the Key to Advanced Material

February 12, 2026 at 2:00 PM

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@tksst.bsky.social

💡💻 A Rice University graduate student realized that Thomas Edison's original 1879 carbon-filament light bulbs were actually the perfect tools for making graphene – the "miracle material" needed for quantum #physics and next-gen computing. #history

👉 www.popularmechanics.com/sci...

The carbon filament used in Edison’s 1897 light bulbs generated the right amount of heat to produce graphene—useful for quantum exploration and supercomputing.

www.popularmechanics.com

February 12, 2026 at 12:00 PM

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@tksst.bsky.social

🐦🌽 We often think of ancient empires being built on gold or military might, but the Chincha Kingdom of #Peru thrived on bird poop.

New research shows these coastal people used nitrogen-rich seabird guano to supercharge their corn harvests 800 years ago. #history

👉 www.popsci.com/science/bird-...

Bird poop powered this pre-Hispanic kingdom

The Chincha Kingdom likely used seabird guano to fertilize their corn.

It looks like a snake and moves like a snake - but don't be fooled. This is no snake... | Discover Wildlife

February 12, 2026 at 10:00 AM

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@tksst.bsky.social

🦎✨ Don't let the name or the scales fool you – the slow worm is neither a worm nor a snake! This legless lizard can blink, drop its tail to escape predators, and live for over 50 years. #wildlife #nature

👉 www.discoverwildlife.com/rep...

Despite its appearance, the slow worm is not a snake (or a worm) but a legless lizard

How do birds stay warm in winter?

February 11, 2026 at 10:30 PM

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@tksst.bsky.social

❄️🐦 Ever wonder how a tiny bird survives a freezing night? They're using advanced biology!

From "fluffing" their feathers to creating a personal heat cocoon to using a specialized internal heat exchange system in their feet, #birds have the #winter covered.

👉 www.popsci.com/environment/h...

Puffing up is just the start.

Nuclear hog hybrids are breeding at breakneck speed in Japan

February 11, 2026 at 7:30 PM

The Kid Should See This

@tksst.bsky.social

🐗🐖 What happens to the animals left behind after a nuclear disaster? In Fukushima, escaped domestic pigs and wild boars are interbreeding at a rapid pace. While they aren't "mutants," these hybrids are rewriting the local gene pool. #science #wildlife

👉 www.popsci.com/environment/n...

But not in the way Fukushima’s geneticists thought.

These Lazy Bats Are Super-Efficient Killers That Carefully Conserve Energy to Attack at a Moment's Notice

February 11, 2026 at 4:30 PM

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@tksst.bsky.social

🦇🦁 The fringe-lipped bat is a tiny predator that hunts like a lion.

Instead of flying all night, these "lazy" #bats spend their time hanging perfectly still, eavesdropping on frog calls. When they hear a target, they strike with a 50% success rate. #wildlife

👉 www.smithsonianmag.com/scien...

Wild fringe-lipped bats spend just one-tenth of the night in flight, but they can precisely snatch a calling frog and nab prey that rivals their own size