All Stories
- Genetics
Inbreeding hurts the next generation’s reproductive success
Inbreeding has evolutionary consequences for humans.
- Genetics
Mating with Neandertals reintroduced ‘lost’ DNA into modern humans
Neandertal DNA brought back some old genetic heirlooms to modern humans.
- Life
How bird feeders may be changing great tits’ beaks
Longer beaks may be evolving in U.K. great tits because of the widespread use of bird feeders in the country.
- Climate
‘Killer Hurricanes’ reconstructs the past to predict storms of the future
Geologists find clues to the future of deadly hurricanes, written in stone and sand, in the new NOVA documentary “Killer Hurricanes.”
- Environment
Pollution killed 9 million people in 2015
First global look estimates the massive human and financial toll caused by pollution-related health problems.
- Astronomy
Dawn spacecraft will keep orbiting the dwarf planet Ceres indefinitely
NASA just gave the Dawn spacecraft a second mission extension to orbit Ceres indefinitely.
- Anthropology
Scientists battle over whether violence has declined over time
People are no more violent in small-scale societies than in states, researchers contend.
- Genetics
Resurrecting extinct species raises ethical questions
'Rise of the Necrofauna' examines the technical and ethical challenges of bringing woolly mammoths and other long-gone creatures back from the dead.
- Genetics
Doubling up on ‘junk DNA’ helps make us human
DNA duplicated only in humans may contribute to human traits and disease.
- Health & Medicine
Laws to protect athletes’ brains do reduce concussions — eventually
Recurrent concussions among high school athletes went down about 2½ years after traumatic brain injury laws were on the books, a new study finds.
- Life
The next wave of bird flu could be worse than ever
Deadly bird flu can pass between ferrets through the air.
- Tech
50 years ago, engineers tried catching commercial planes in nets
Fifty years ago, aviation experts tried helping commercial aircraft come to a stop during landing by catching them in massive nets. The idea crash-landed for commercial flights, but it’s still used in the military.
