1,416 results
- Life
Starchy foods more filling than fiber, lab tests suggest
Tests of gut microbe digestion of potato starch and fiber suggest that moving away from grass-heavy ancestral diets may not be the reason for obesity epidemic.
- Life
Evolution of mammalian monogamy remains mysterious
Two large studies reach opposing conclusions about why males stay with females.
- Life
For yeast life span, calorie restriction may be a wash
A new technique for growing and tracking yeast cells finds caloric restriction doesn’t lengthen life span, though some researchers question the study method.
- Animals
Chimps catch people’s yawns in sign of flexible empathy
Chimpanzees may show humanlike empathy, as evidenced by their contagious yawning.
- Genetics
How to rewire the eye
The cutting-edge technology called optogenetics may offer a workaround to partially restore vision even after the retina’s light-sensing rods and cones die.
- Health & Medicine
Chikungunya is on the move
The chikungunya virus, which wreaks havoc on joints, has spread via mosquitoes in tropical regions. Now it has found a way to hijack a second mosquito, posing a threat to people in Europe, North America and China.
- Life
Animal source of Ebola outbreak eludes scientists
Researchers are trying to determine whether bats or bush meat transmitted the Ebola virus to people in West Africa.
- Genetics
Chimp and human lineages may have split twice as long ago as thought
New estimates of chimpanzee mutation rates suggest humans and chimps last shared a common ancestor 13 million years ago.
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Killer whales, grandmas and what men want: Evolutionary biologists consider menopause
Menopause seems like a cruel prank that Mother Nature plays on women. First come the hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, irregular periods, irritability and weight gain. Then menstruation stops and fertility ends. Why, many women ask, must they suffer through this? Evolutionary biologists, it turns out, ask themselves more or less the same question. […]
- Life
Fossils point to ancient ape-monkey split
Apes and monkeys split from a common ancestor more than 25 million years ago, fossil finds suggest.
- Genetics
Year in Review: Caffeine triggers cloning advance
To successfully clone human cells, eggs must be dunked in the stimulant.
- Animals
Lemurs’ group size predicts social intelligence
Primates that live with many others know not to steal food when someone is watching.
