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Mapping emotions in the body

For 3,000 years, humans have connected emotions to some of the same body parts. An analysis of clay tablets reveals that ancient Mesopotamians felt love in the heart and fear in the gut, as we do today.

Exercise and education

In this activity, students will design an experiment to observe how exercise affects their ability to concentrate in class. Students will then read the Science News Explores article “Short exercise workouts can boost classroom performance” and analyze how their experiment differed from the experiment described in the article.

Balancing the protein puzzle

Protein is having a moment. It’s cropping up as an additive in all sorts of foods, and social media influencers tout high-protein diets as key to big muscles. But people in the United States typically get enough protein; they just might not be getting the right mix.

Eyes are not all equal

Golden apple snails can completely regrow a functional eye within months of having lost one. Understanding how the snails re-create or repair their eyes might someday lead to therapies to heal people’s eye injuries or reverse some eye diseases.

The brain provides answers

Brain scans can help scientists answer questions about how the brain receives information from parts of the body and controls them. In this short activity, students will think of a question that could potentially be answered by brain scans and write a scientific question.

Take a hike

Walking just 7,000 steps per day can lower a person’s risk of certain health issues, according to a new study. Even a small increase in steps per day lowered health risks.

Wiring the mind

Researchers are drawing inspiration from the brains of creatures from worms to humans to develop more efficient, more capable forms of AI.

The rise of male contraceptive options

Contraceptive pills for women emerged in 1960, followed by hormonal implants, patches, vaginal rings and IUDs. But no new contraceptive methods have become available for men. New research could change that in the next five to 10 years.

U.S. dementia cases on the rise

Scientists predict that, by 2060, one million U.S. adults per year will develop dementia. The new estimate surpasses previous estimates of how many people will struggle with memory, reasoning and language difficulties that interfere with life.

A virtual immune-boost

Exposure to germs triggers an immune response. But just thinking about germs might do it, too, new data show. Researchers used virtual reality to study how people respond to sickness in others. Learn techniques and tools researchers use to study how we respond to illness at three levels of biological organization — the behavioral, physiological and chemical. Answer questions about experimental variables, then discuss possible applications for virtually boosted vaccines of the future.

How plants level up their stink

Some plants have evolved to produce putrid scents. Consider the phenomenon of smell before doing a card sort to show the biological and chemical processes happening in these plants. Then, answer questions about why and how the plants evolved to increase their stench.

The weight of weight-loss drug usage

Shortages and big price tags have driven patients to unconventional, sometimes shady sources of weight-loss drugs. In some cases, people end up with tainted drugs or risk overdosing.