Kit Kat is big in Japan. From cheesecake to wasabi to purple sweet potato, the crispy wafer bar is available in more than 400 varieties, according to Yuji Takeuchi, marketing manager for Nestlé Japan. And it’s up to Yasumasa Takagi to keep the fresh flavors coming. The classically-trained pastry ...

Dig into the system that helps scientists distinguish trees from other varieties of plants, and what characteristics make a tree. -- Plants assume a variety of forms, and trees are just one of them. What makes or breaks a tree can come down to some pretty specific characteristics, based on how ...

What could our future look like if we harness our technology to create a sustainable world? Take a look at the possibilities. -- Faced with the realities of current crises, it’s easy to assume our world is headed in a bleak direction. But there’s good reason to be hopeful— with developments in ...

Get to know the history of Juneteenth, a commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States after the Civil War. -- At the end of the Civil War, though slavery was technically illegal in all states, it still persisted in the last bastions of the Confederacy. This was the case when Union G...

Dig into the science of touchscreens, and find out the difference between the two most common types: capacitive and resistive. -- In 2010, South Korea experienced a particularly cold winter. People couldn’t activate their smartphones while wearing gloves, so they began wielding snack sausages— ...

Explore the common causes and treatments of yeast infections, which affect 3 out of every 4 people with a vagina. -- The vagina harbors hundreds of different kinds of microorganisms. Candida yeasts are usually present in small quantities and most of the time, these fungi are harmless. But, unde...

Explore the circular reasoning fallacy, which occurs when the end of an argument comes back to the start without having proven itself. -- It’s 1990. A prospective student has filed a complaint about Virginia Military institute’s admissions policy that excludes women. The state argues that VMI’s...

Dig into the science of how heart transplants happen, how donors are matched and find out how this complex surgery saves lives. -- Your heart beats more than 100,000 times a day. In just a minute, it pumps over five liters of blood throughout your body. But unlike skin and bones, the heart has ...

Dig into the psychiatric conditions of eating disorders, and explore the complex effects they have on the body and mind. -- Globally, about 10% of people will experience an eating disorder during their lifetime. And yet, eating disorders are profoundly misunderstood. Misconceptions about every...

Get to know the myth of the weaver and the cowherd, a pair of star-crossed lovers banished to opposite sides of the Milky Way. -- In the court of the Jade Emperor, a young princess had a special skill: she could pluck clouds from the sky and spin them into the softest robes. But her craft was t...