I would take that phrase to mean "has not yet been explained by science".
As for this article, I am not really sure how this applies at all. Seems decently explained by "spores got in before sealing".
Yeah I think that's the thing. Science is that process of exploration...figuring it out. This is 'disturbing twinkie' and the investigation is the definition of science.
Yeah reading about the fungi makes that title even more clickbait.
How so? The thing that defied explanation was the fungi, not the twinki itself.
Maybe it's meant as an idiom to mention a deviation from what is available in 'science' as a domain?
God stories defy science, I guess...
NPR is just as bad as Buzzfeed with it's sensationalist headlines.
Not get vaccinated and refuse to wear a mask during a pandemic?
It's been hard to get respect since scientists admitted they didn't know how bees could possibly fly.