Life Science
From the smallest microbe to the largest mammal, Life Science explores the origins, evolution and expansion of life in all its forms. Explore a wide range of topics from biology to genetics and evolution.
Can 'Parentese' Help Babies From Monolingual Families Learn New Languages?
Baby brains benefit from a second language. A new strategy shows how one hour of daily play in "parentese" helps babies pick up new language capabilities.
Plants Can Defend Themselves by Making Caterpillars Turn Cannibal
An interesting defense mechanism recently observed in tomato plants has caterpillars turning on themselves rather than remaining vegetarian.
Frogs owe a debt to that giant asteroid, a new study finds, opening up evolutionary options previously blocked by dinos.
Cook pines are known to be a little tipsy. But a group of researchers just discovered that the trees' tilt isn't random — no matter their location on the globe, they lean toward the equator.
Were hobbits and giants real? And are they distant relatives of humans?
Remains in Morocco push back Homo sapiens origins at least 100,000 years — and show that our species evolved neither in the way nor place we've assumed.
A new study reveals that anything more than a moderate amount of charisma in a leader actually may interfere with his or her effectiveness.
Scientists Control Cells With Light, Make Cool Artwork
But the artwork is just the beginning of how scientists hope to boss around engineered bacteria.
Yes, there might be another reason we reach for expletives when we're under stress.
Researchers have shown that THC in marijuana alters the structure of the brains in older mice to be more like brains of younger mice. Could the same be true for humans?
Shock yourself by learning Italian, or learn Italian by shocking yourself?
Humans do a lot of guessing to make sense of the world, even though we now have books and the internet to help us. So how do we get better at guessing?
Even Cold Hard Cash Isn’t Enough Incentive to Listen to Opposing Views
People on both left and right in the U.S. were unwilling to learn about the others' views, even for pay, according to a new study.
Homo floresiensis, popularly known as a hobbit, is an extinct, miniature human species that might be much, much older than previously thought.
A new study shows that brain wiring might not be body part-specific but function-specific.
Ancient Skeleton DNA Suggests Genetic Link to First Humans in North America
Do ancient human remains mean we've found an ancient ancestor? It's not always that simple.
Our Gut Microbes Have Circadian Rhythms, Too — And They Might Own Us
We've known for while that our microbiomes affect our health, but new research suggest their circadian rhythms are tightly interconnected with ours.
It's hard to be a night owl in an early bird world, especially when your genes are working against you.
Study Suggests Early Antibiotics Could Affect Adult Health and Behavior
A new study conducted on mice found a change in anxiety and aggression, and that probiotics could mediate any changes.
Israeli researchers have managed to erase fear-inducing memories in mice by weakening the connection between the brain's amygdala and cortex.
Research suggests the human brain is wired to distinguish the rhyme and rhythm of verse from ordinary prose, and to react to literary contemplation.
Temperature and humidity might have determined nostril width.
Need a neural workout? Satnav devices may be convenient, but they could diminish our abilities for spatial reasoning.
The ability to see food on land might explain why our fish ancestors evolved, eventually growing limbs so they could stalk the abundance of prey on land.
Female Soccer Players Suffer Most Concussions Among High School Athletes
Traumatic head injuries can be dangerous for teenagers in the long term, but one group of teenage athletes is getting more than its fair share.
