Scientists just discovered ant queens that give birth to two completely different species - not twins, but actual separate species hatching from the same mother. But what the if every animal on Earth reproduced this way? Suddenly every pregnancy becomes a species reveal party, dairy farms need to manage herds where some cows give birth to regular calves while others pop out Ice Age yaks, and your family reunions include relatives from entirely different species sitting around the same table. Pet stores become absolute chaos when golden retrievers randomly give birth to wolves, and nobody knows which species they're getting until it hatches or emerges. Your family tree stops being a tree and starts looking like a biological choose-your-own-adventure book. This bizarre discovery from Science Magazine proves that when biology textbooks try to define species boundaries, nature just laughs and does whatever it wants anyway. Reproduction just got way weirder than anyone thought possible.
Based on "Ant Queen Lays Eggs That Hatch Into Two Species" from Science Magazine
Read the full article here: https://www.science.org/content/article/ant-queen-lays-eggs-hatch-two-species
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Find out more about Gaby's science fiction short story!
Here are the links for the anthology. The physical copy can be ordered here : https://www.neonhemlock.com/books/luminescent-machinations-queer-tales-of-monumental-invention
The ebook can be ordered here: https://www.neonhemlock.com/ebooks/luminescent-machinations-queer-tales-of-monumental-invention
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Scientists just discovered ant queens that give birth to two completely different species - not twins, but actual separate species hatching from the same mother. But what the if every animal on Earth reproduced this way? Suddenly every pregnancy becomes a species reveal party, dairy farms need to manage herds where some cows give birth to regular calves while others pop out Ice Age yaks, and your family reunions include relatives from entirely different species sitting around the same table. Pet stores become absolute chaos when golden retrievers randomly give birth to wolves, and nobody knows which species they're getting until it hatches or emerges. Your family tree stops being a tree and starts looking like a biological choose-your-own-adventure book. This bizarre discovery from Science Magazine proves that when biology textbooks try to define species boundaries, nature just laughs and does whatever it wants anyway. Reproduction just got way weirder than anyone thought possible.
Based on "Ant Queen Lays Eggs That Hatch Into Two Species" from Science Magazine
Read the full article here: https://www.science.org/content/article/ant-queen-lays-eggs-hatch-two-species
---
Find out more about Gaby's science fiction short story!
Here are the links for the anthology. The physical copy can be ordered here : https://www.neonhemlock.com/books/luminescent-machinations-queer-tales-of-monumental-invention
The ebook can be ordered here: https://www.neonhemlock.com/ebooks/luminescent-machinations-queer-tales-of-monumental-invention
What the if gravitational waves were big enough to see and feel? Instead of measuring distortions smaller than a proton, imagine watching your coffee table accordion in and out as ripples from distant black hole collisions pass through your local cafe. Every time Charlie the cat bats a toy mouse in Greenwich Village, sugar cubes scrunch in Williamsburg cafes. Brain surgeons would need to ask all of New York to sit perfectly still during operations to avoid gravitational interference. Even parking lots would seem impossibly far away one moment and right next to you the next as space itself stretches and compresses. From squirrels disrupting billion-dollar physics experiments to the strange world of noise-canceling gravity waves, discover why LIGO's incredible ability to detect universe-shaking events that distort space by one ten-thousandth the width of a proton might actually be humanity's most impressive scientific achievement.
Based on "Happy Birthday, LIGO. Now Drop Dead." by Dennis Overby, published in The New York Times on September 10, 2025: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/science/gravitational-waves-ligo-black-holes.html?unlocked_article_code=1.nE8.QM2f.ag_83DD_kR8e&smid=url-share
Learn More:
"Gravity's Kiss: The Detection of Gravitational Waves" - https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262535120/gravitys-kiss/ Matt mentioned sociologist Harry Collins' nearly 900-page masterpiece about gravity wave detection as the first book he ever reviewed; find this comprehensive account of one of science's most remarkable discoveries written by someone embedded in the gravitational wave community for over 40 years.
Professor Tiffany Nichols - https://cssh.northeastern.edu/faculty/tiffany-nichols/ Matt recommended his friend Tiffany's dissertation (soon to be a book) about how LIGO chose their detection sites; explore her research on the epic story of selecting locations for these mile-long instruments and how surrounding environments become part of the scientific process.
What are Gravitational Waves - https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/what-are-gw Learn about the ripples in space-time that we imagined making visible in our thought experiment, including how these waves from colliding black holes create distortions 10,000 times smaller than an atomic nucleus.
What is LIGO - https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/what-is-ligo Discover how this unique observatory uses 4-kilometer-long laser interferometers to detect the universe's most violent events, from the instrument that Matt described as humanity's most sensitive measurement device.
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Find out more about Gaby's science fiction short story!
Here are the links for the anthology. The physical copy can be ordered here : https://www.neonhemlock.com/books/luminescent-machinations-queer-tales-of-monumental-invention
The ebook can be ordered here: https://www.neonhemlock.com/ebooks/luminescent-machinations-queer-tales-of-monumental-invention
What The If?
Scientists just discovered ant queens that give birth to two completely different species - not twins, but actual separate species hatching from the same mother. But what the if every animal on Earth reproduced this way? Suddenly every pregnancy becomes a species reveal party, dairy farms need to manage herds where some cows give birth to regular calves while others pop out Ice Age yaks, and your family reunions include relatives from entirely different species sitting around the same table. Pet stores become absolute chaos when golden retrievers randomly give birth to wolves, and nobody knows which species they're getting until it hatches or emerges. Your family tree stops being a tree and starts looking like a biological choose-your-own-adventure book. This bizarre discovery from Science Magazine proves that when biology textbooks try to define species boundaries, nature just laughs and does whatever it wants anyway. Reproduction just got way weirder than anyone thought possible.
Based on "Ant Queen Lays Eggs That Hatch Into Two Species" from Science Magazine
Read the full article here: https://www.science.org/content/article/ant-queen-lays-eggs-hatch-two-species
---
Find out more about Gaby's science fiction short story!
Here are the links for the anthology. The physical copy can be ordered here : https://www.neonhemlock.com/books/luminescent-machinations-queer-tales-of-monumental-invention
The ebook can be ordered here: https://www.neonhemlock.com/ebooks/luminescent-machinations-queer-tales-of-monumental-invention
