It’s often said that we know more about space than we do about Earth’s own oceans. In the case of the midocean ridges, the maxim is pretty much true. Discovered in the 1950’s, the midocean ridges tower above the seafloor, crisscrossing the globe in long chains punctuat...

At first glance, the animal kingdom has no shortage of tails. From crocodiles to platypuses, squirrels to pigs and fish to boa constrictors, the shapes, sizes and textures are diverse. But whether flat, flexible, paddle-like, scaly, bare, mighty, curly or fluffy, all t...