Vocabulary

Monks once hoped to turn lead into gold through alchemy. But consider the cauliflower instead. It takes just two genes to the ordinary stems, stalks and flowers of the weedy, tasteless species Brassica oleracea into a formation as marvelous as this fractal, cloudlike vegetable. This is the true alchemy, says Christophe Godin, a senior researcher…

Winners From Our May Vocabulary ChallengeCongratulations to Shannon, Julia and Montgomery, who wrote about a fisherman’s hairdo, an intense athletic practice and a poisonous berry bush. Each of these students used several challenging vocabulary words to bring their characters and scenes to life.Shannon Arnold, age 14, Mark T Sheehan High School, Wallingford, Conn.The JAUNTY fisherman’s…

The 13-year-old, Milly Hardwick, said that she, her father and her grandfather had been out in a field with metal detectors for several hours on a Sunday in Royston, England, and had not found a single item. Then, just after a lunch of sandwiches and cookies, they tried a different part of the field, where…

Scores of its roughly 300 contestants have leveraged the show to open restaurants and grow empires in cities like Chicago, New York, Honolulu, Houston and Miami, and to draw attention and tourists to smaller markets like Boulder, Colo., Athens, Ga., and Paducah, Ky. Through its 17 years on television, “Top Chef” has reflected the evolution…

On the brink of 40, Gev Danielian could have gotten a Porsche; he could have gambled or had too much to drink. Instead, in June 2021, he planned a prudent celebration at his home in Los Angeles and allowed himself one mild regression. He blanketed his lawn in several hundred balloons. Dozens and dozens of…

Note: This calendar is available as a printable PDF.Every school day since 2009, The Learning Network has helped students learn a new vocabulary word. Last year, however, students showed us they were eager to do more than just understand definitions. During our inaugural Vocabulary Challenges, they transformed each month’s words into clever stories, poems and…

“TikTok is the biggest thing that happened to me in my career, and honestly the reason why I am where I am today,” he said. In 2018, when TikTok was officially introduced in America — it was already enormously popular elsewhere around the world — the app was lip syncs and dance challenges. But food…

On the beaches of Western Australia, by California’s crashing waves and in sight of Hawaii’s blue depths, “shark attacks” are slowly disappearing, at least as a phrase used by researchers and officials who have been rethinking how to describe the moments when sharks and humans meet. Last week, two Australian states drew mockery when The…

“Our land and livelihoods have been battered many times over by raging cyclones and unpredictable, heavy rains,” said Ms. Dhara, 30, as she and the other women in the boat discussed where they needed to plant more trees. “The rhythm of our lives is dependent on the of the water around us, making the mangroves…

Professional free divers are a daring lot. The best of them can hold their breath for over 10 minutes at the surface, and plunge to depths of well over 300 feet on one breath. When they aren’t competing, they dive for fun, sometimes in extreme settings or alongside wildlife. Instagram is speckled with images of…