All Stories

  1. Paleontology

    Mammals’ bodies outpaced their brains right after the dinosaurs died

    Fossils show that mammals’ brains and bodies did not balloon together. The animals’ brains grew bigger later.

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  2. Science & Society

    Here are the Top 10 times scientific imagination failed

    Some scientists of the past couldn’t imagine that atoms or gravity waves could one day be studied – or nuclear energy harnessed.

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  3. Anthropology

    North America’s oldest skull surgery dates to at least 3,000 years ago

    Bone regrowth suggests the man, who lived in what’s now Alabama, survived a procedure to treat brain swelling by scraping a hole out of his forehead.

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  4. Microbes

    New images reveal details of two bacteria’s molecular syringes

    It’s unclear exactly how these species use their tiny injectors, but learning how they work could lead to nanodevices that target specific bacteria.

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  5. Animals

    Invasive jorō spiders get huge and flashy — if they’re female

    Taking the pulse (literally) of female jorō spiders hints that the arachnid might push farther north than a relative that has stayed put in the South.

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  6. Animals

    How scientists found an African bat lost to science for 40 years

    African researchers had been searching for the Hill’s horseshoe bat since 2013. Now, the first recording of its echolocation call may help find more.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    ‘Vagina Obscura’ shows how little is known about female biology

    The new book ‘Vagina Obscura’ chronicles how scientists are finally giving female health and anatomy proper attention.

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  8. Climate

    Wally Broecker divined how the climate could suddenly shift

    Wally Broecker’s insight into the shutdown of the great ocean conveyor belt spurred the study of abrupt climate change.

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  9. Chemistry

    Grainy ice cream is unpleasant. Plant-based nanocrystals might help

    The growth of large ice crystals in ice cream produces a coarse texture. A cellulose nanocrystal stabilizer could help keep the unwelcome iciness away.

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  10. Anthropology

    Social mingling shapes how orangutans issue warning calls

    The new findings hint at how modern language may have taken root in sparse communities of ancient apes and humans.

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  11. Life

    How a virus turns caterpillars into zombies doomed to climb to their deaths

    By manipulating genes used in vision, a virus sends its host caterpillar on a doomed quest for sunlight, increasing the chances for viral spread.

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  12. Life

    Lost genes may help explain how vampire bats survive on blood alone

    The 13 identified genes underpin a range of physiological and behavioral strategies that the bats have evolved.

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