News
- Anthropology
Rise of human civilization tied to belief in punitive gods
Beliefs in all-knowing, punitive deities may have fueled the growth of human civilizations.
By Bruce Bower - Psychology
Don’t blame winter for that bleak mood
Contrary to popular opinion, depression doesn’t spike in winter, survey finds.
By Bruce Bower - Animals
White-tailed deer have their own form of malaria
The otherwise well-studied white-tailed deer turns out to carry the first malaria parasite discovered in any deer.
By Susan Milius - Neuroscience
Mouse study offers clues to brain’s response to concussions
The brain needs time to recover between head hits, a study in mice suggests.
- Climate
Forest management not so hot at fighting warming
Forest management practices in Europe have slightly worsened climate change, new research shows.
- Life
Removing worn-out cells makes mice live longer and prosper
Senescent cells promote aging, and removing them makes mice live longer, healthier lives.
- Earth
Ancient tectonic plate blocks magma plume at Yellowstone, simulation shows
A rising plume of hot rock from Earth’s mantle may not be responsible for the Yellowstone supervolcano, new research suggests.
- Astronomy
Odd star’s dimming not aliens’ doing
A star’s flickering light and century-long dimming have astronomers hunting for exocomet storms, prowling dust clouds and even alien engineers.
- Climate
Phytoplankton rapidly disappearing from the Indian Ocean
Phytoplankton populations in the Indian Ocean fell 30 percent over the last 16 years largely due to global warming, new research suggests.
- Microbes
Random changes in behavior speed bacteria evolution
Microbes can speed up evolution by changing phenotypes.
- Planetary Science
Computer simulations heat up hunt for Planet Nine
A giant planet in the far outer solar system could explain orbital oddities of bodies in the fringes of the Kuiper belt.
- Neuroscience
Immune system gene leads to schizophrenia clue
Excessive snipping of nerve cell connections may contribute to schizophrenia.