Stories by Mark Fischetti

Opportunities abound to watch the sun disappear if you live long and travel

Use the interactive map below to find the next solar spectacular in your region

Births peak on weekdays during daytime work hours

Millions of people do not protect themselves against dangerously loud noise

Surprising data show many species make annual treks

People are responsible for much of the rising cost and ecological damage that wildfires impose

We are certain that we remember events clearly, but most of us are only half right

Sure, Punxsutawney Phil is fun to watch, but his annual predictions about spring are no better than chance

Great literature is surprisingly arithmetic

Feedback loops between record Arctic temperatures and the jet stream may be altering our weather

Scientists, not politicians, resolve a set of controversial measurements

A small number of industrial facilities emit an enormous share of toxics and greenhouse gases

Lineages of all known species on earth are finally pieced together

Architect William McDonough says the world should exploit carbon as an asset, not demonize it as a liability

Patent data show that companies have very different strategies for invention

They also say the scientists’ research findings are influenced by political leanings

For the first time in the history of our species, we are never alone and never bored. Have we lost something fundamental about being human?

Violence and disaster are increasingly forcing people to flee inside their own country

A famous scientist and a famous cartoonist dismantle what they see as the biggest threat to the planet

The world is entering a new era of severe obesity

A dramatic rise in “danger days” is underway

Diets around the globe are more similar than they used to be

Heavy rains for the Mountain State and the U.S. Northeast are up 71 percent

Less snow and warmer spring mean more acres burned