Life Science

Orchids might be the sexiest flower in the greenhouse. Its very name comes from the Greek word for "testicle!" And its reproduction methods are pretty exotic too.

By Alia Hoyt & Desiree Bowie

You've probably experienced that moment where you're driving, get lost, turn down the radio, and then think, "Why did I just do that?"

By Maria Trimarchi

Pain is subjective - what is excruciating to you might be tolerable to me. Which is why it's so difficult to measure and control.

By Jennifer Sellers

Bacteria are both friend and foe to humanity. They cause and cure health problems, make rotting food stink and give sourdough its delicious taste. Find out how these countless tiny microbes accomplish all of this and more.

By Marianne Spoon

When you see someone yawning, even in a picture, chances are a yawning urge will come over you, too. But is this also true of sneezing, and if so, why?

By Laurie L. Dove

Your body replaces billions (with a b!) of cells every day. In about 100 days, 30 trillion be replaced, but does that mean you're a new person, too?

By Chris Opfer & Allison Troutner

There's a great need for people to donate their bodies to science but not many people think about doing it. What happens to your body after you make that decision?

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

We love stories of twins who can sense each other's pain or know what the other is thinking. But is there really such a thing as "twinspiration" or is just coincidence?

By Karen Kirkpatrick

Viruses, viroids and prions are microscopic, infectious particles with a common, despicable goal - but the way each goes about achieving that goal is different.

By Debra Ronca

Have you ever met someone with a unique first name, and then all of a sudden you hear the name everywhere you turn? That's the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon at work. How did it get that handle?

By Kate Kershner & Austin Henderson

Are you a person who likes to be social but also values some alone time? You are? How did we guess without knowing you? Welcome to the Barnum effect.

By Kate Kershner

Why does the experience of sleep paralysis often summon explanations of demonic visitations? Visit the place where dreams and reality overlap, and where science and myth attempt to interpret our hallucinations.

By Robert Lamb

Evolution is a never-ending process, but some scientists believe it might be speeding up as human activity impacts the environment.

By Bambi Turner

We're used to taking the phrase "survival of the fittest" to mean it's an "every man for himself" world. But some animals (like worker bees) sacrifice themselves to ensure their species lives on. Why would they do this?

By Dave Roos

If dinosaurs hadn't gone extinct, you wouldn't exist. Extinction may seem inherently bad, but sometimes the death of a species encourages new life.

By Karen Kirkpatrick

Odd as it may seem, many antidepressants like Zoloft having warning labels about increases in suicidal thoughts. Why would that be? And how will you know if your medication is actually working?

By Laurie L. Dove

We often throw around the word "insanity" for acts that seem to have no rational explanation (like a teacher giving an insanely difficult test). Legally speaking, though, it's actually a narrow term that's very difficult to prove in court.

By Chris Opfer

Having a Ph.D., four stars on your general's uniform or a seat in the Oval Office won't necessarily stop you from doing things that make others want to whack you on the head with a "how could you?" Here are 10 who should've thought twice.

By Becky Striepe

E=mc2. The theory of relativity. An understanding of the speed of light. These ideas all came from the brain of one man: Albert Einstein. But what happened to his brain after he died?

By Molly Edmonds

It's safe to say that no one particularly wants an ice pick through the eye socket. And yet, for years, people who were mentally ill or merely "difficult" had parts of their brains removed this way. The natural question: Why?

By Shanna Freeman

You yearn to peer out the window of an SUV and watch a Tyrannosaurus rex lumber into a clearing. Your home movie of said event would be a YouTube sensation. Could it ever happen?

By Robert Lamb

Depending on whom and when you ask, everything from same-sex smooching to punk music portends the end of Western civilization. Do any of these cultural commentators have a case?

By Robert Lamb

A new global report says 1 million species are at risk of extinction - the greatest number in human history.

By Jonathan Strickland

You won't find some of history's biggest killers on this list, but you will find at least one disease that will make you want to bite something and another that might make you break out in "elevated pustules." Curious yet?

By Garth Sundem

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