The jury found you guilty. The judge sentenced you to one of the most dangerous prisons on Earth. And if you’re not careful, you could spend the rest of your life...
For centuries, humans have dreamed about finding a new home among the stars. Earth is the only planet we know that supports life, but with thousands of planets...
Make room, earthling. We’re moving the other planets in our Solar System into our planetary neck of the woods. Would all the planets fit into this Goldilocks zone? What...
Take Earth, the entire planet with every ocean, mountain, and city on it, and treat it as a unit of measurement. Jupiter could hold 1,321 of them. Then take Jupiter, the...
Our galaxy is full of strange worlds, but what would happen if we could bring some of them into our own Solar System? Moving exoplanets closer helps us imagine how...
Instead of falling apart after a single crash, now we all have cars that are completely indestructible. Would there be fewer fatalities caused by car accidents? What...
Something enormous is on its way to our cosmic neighborhood. The Milky Way, along with our closest major neighbor the Andromeda galaxy, is moving toward a future...
What was meant to be a once in a lifetime adventure quickly turned into one of the deadliest volcanic disasters ever recorded on camera. Whakaari, also known as White...
Sixty five million years ago, a massive asteroid crashed into Earth and ended the age of the dinosaurs. But what if that never happened? What if dinosaurs had continued...
Gravity, in the literal sense, keeps everyone (and everything) on Earth grounded. It acts as the anchor that prevents objects from floating skyward. For humans...
We visit a lot of planets here on WHAT IF, but K2-141b is the most extreme one yet. Are you ready to jump on board this one-way space shuttle? If you’d rather stay...
Tectonic plates: can’t live with them, can’t live without them. Their movements cause some of the world’s deadliest disasters, but, as you’re...
Under extreme circumstances, humans can often pull together to overcome great odds. But when confined in a tight space with each other, well, we may not be at our finest...
When walking across a frozen lake, appearances can be deceiving. Ice that looks solid may be dangerously thin beneath the surface. While many people follow the saying...
This former intelligence officer-turned-president took Russia from a defeated Cold War relic to the most feared superpower in Eurasia. Now Vladimir Putin, who many have...
Most insects are harmless, and many play an important role in the environment. But a small number possess painful stings, toxic venom, or defensive chemicals that can...
Humans have a knack for changing the environment. Often, these projects have effects we didn’t plan for. Sometimes, it’s disastrous. And other times, it gives us energy...
MSN New, Cosmos
A Black Hole Would Stretch Your Body Into a Thread in a Single Nanosecond, and You’d Never Feel It Coming
Physicists gave the process a slightly absurd name, which does nothing to soften what it actually describes. They call it spaghettification. Cross the boundary of a...
When most people picture a camel, they imagine endless deserts, hot temperatures, and dry landscapes. These animals are famous for surviving some of the harshest...
As much as we love to blow stuff up here on Earth, no bombs or pyrotechnics could compare to the incredible force of nature’s biggest explosion, the supernova. As...
