Life Science

Did you know that elements of your genetic code are patented? Companies and researchers can actually lay claim to sequences of genetic code. Is that as scary as it sounds?

By Michael Franco

Most people would recall every detail of being held up in a bank robbery but not so well the details of their last birthday party. The brain is wired for recalling trauma for a very good reason.

By Colleen Cancio

Pollen grains are, in essence, plant sperm. But how do the grains get where they need to go, and what's the advantage of trusting your genetic future to the winds?

By Jessika Toothman

A massive white oak in the hometown of the University of Georgia has many wondering whether a tree can even have legal rights — and about the future of the environmental and animal rights movements.

By Jamie Allen

A new year is always a good time to set new goals. We've come up with five healthy changes that have been scientifically shown to improve your well-being.

By Dave Roos

Bezoars are concretions found in the stomachs of animals that were once believed to cure poisoning and plague.

By Loraine Fick

Scientists started an experiment back in 2014 that will run for 500 years. The first results were recently published. So, what have they found so far?

By Nathan Chandler

ASMR has become a pop phenomenon and scientists are trying to figure out why some people love those tingling-inducing videos and others can't stand them.

By Nathan Chandler

For years, speculation has surrounded the government's high security animal disease research center, which is slated to close in 2023.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Amanita phalloides is non-native to the North American continent, introduced to California from Europe, and rapidly spreading.

By Tara Yarlagadda

Researchers from Penn State University College of Medicine suggest that a shared circuit in the brain could be one reason why heavy drinking and high-fat 'junk food' cravings go hand in hand.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

Australia's western coast boasts such pink wonders. But what gives these lakes their pink hue?

By Tara Yarlagadda & Austin Henderson

Does everyone have a double out there somewhere that they don't know about? Science says the odds are pretty slim.

By Alia Hoyt

It's easy to equate Caucasian with white. But the word Caucasian touches on issues deeper than skin color. HowStuffWorks looks at its true meaning.

By John Donovan & Austin Henderson

While researchers can't say from this small study whether hairy men are inherently germier than the rest of the human race, the results are startling.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

Ever had a "woulda, shoulda, coulda" feeling about something? It's called regret. What really triggers this emotion — and can we trust it?

By Dave Roos

Horseshoe crabs have blue blood that can detect toxins, a rare ability that's threatening their survival.

By Loraine Fick

It's not just your imagination — people feel freer to bail out on others at the last minute than they used to. But why?

By Danielle Douez

The noises that others make — be it walking, chewing or breathing heavily — are very noticeable to us. Yet we seldom hear it in ourselves. Why is that?

By Alia Hoyt

New research shows that homo sapiens weren't the first folks to decorate their caves with artwork. Neanderthals actually did it thousands of years earlier.

By Alia Hoyt

A new study shows that IQ levels have been falling since 1975, reversing a 20th-century trend.

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

Ever walked from your kitchen to the living room to find your phone and then forgotten what you were looking for once you got there? Researchers think your brain is hard-wired to undergo precisely that process of forgetting.

By Nathan Chandler

Researchers say that Otzi, the ancient man found in the Alps in 1991, lived on a diet loaded with fat to maintain warmth and energy in his cold, high-altitude environment.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Poison sumac is even more toxic than its cousins, poison ivy and poison oak, in its ability to cause allergic reactions and respiratory problems.

By Alia Hoyt

Maybe. A study that wasn't even about kissing turned out to (sort of) give the answer.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky