News

  1. Anthropology

    Hobbit brain small, but organized for complex intelligence

    Evolution may have endowed a controversial species with small but humanlike brains equipped to support advanced thinking

    By Bruce Bower
  2. Health & Medicine

    Sleep may clear the decks for next day’s learning

    Two separate studies suggest that sleep reduces connections between neurons in fruit flies’ brains.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  3. Materials Science

    Viruses could power devices

    Viruses — the biological kind — could be used to construct more efficient, environmentally friendly lithium ion batteries

    By Solmaz Barazesh
  4. Life

    Cells renew in the human heart

    Carbon 14 from Cold War–era nuclear bomb tests allowed researchers to track cell birth.