Life Science

Touch can be a very powerful thing that can dredge up all kinds of intense feelings. The lightest touch in the right place can induce laughter in the most taciturn people. Why?

By Josh Clark

Think musicals are cheesy? You're not alone. But even the most cynical among us can't deny that hearing a favorite song can completely change our mood.

By Molly Edmonds

Money can buy important stuff like food and shelter, which brings a smile to anyone's face. But after you cross a certain financial threshold, how much happier can a new Jaguar and a Versace bag really make you?

By Jennifer Horton

People love chocolate. They eat it to drown their sorrows and to celebrate love -- some might say it's even better than sex. Chocolate clearly helps people feel good, but can it actually get you high?

By Josh Clark

Whether you belt out a tune in the shower, at a karaoke bar or in a choir, singing has some real, tangible health benefits. But can it also make you happy?

By Julia Layton

Would you be happier if you had the perfect body? A better job? A bigger paycheck? Being happy with yourself is less about the pursuit of happiness and more about finding it within you.

By Shanna Freeman

Predicting the future is a tricky business. We've long been promised flying cars and robot maids, only to be disappointed year after year. What might the crystal ball have in store for us in 2050?

By Molly Edmonds

Of course they can. They do it every day when they wag and meow their undying love for you. Why are pets such a solid prescription for smiles?

By Jennifer Horton

Whether it's "Happy," "Baby Shark," or "Call Me Maybe," some tunes just live rent-free in your brain. But why do songs get stuck in your head?

By Stephanie Watson

We talk about morals in relation to raising children, voting for political candidates and criticizing people who don't see eye-to-eye with us. But is morality even a choice? Or is it all in your head?

By Molly Edmonds

There are people who are smart, and there are people who are people-smart. The guy you want in your think tank isn't necessarily the same person you want at your birthday party. But can emotional intelligence say more about your brain than IQ can?

By Molly Edmonds

Do gender differences go beyond our reproductive organs? Popular culture would have you believe that men are from Mars, while women call Venus their planet of birth. Is it possible to finish the argument of nature versus nurture?

By Molly Edmonds

Compare neuroscientists with crackerjack detectives like Nancy Drew and Hercule Poirot, and the brain docs might come up short. After all, they have yet to crack the case on five big brain mysteries.

By Molly Edmonds

Laugh and the world laughs with you, the saying goes. In our image gallery, experience the range of human emotions from around the world.

You only use 10 percent of that big, wrinkled mass of smarts -- unless you listen to Mozart. At least, that's what we've heard about the brain. But how many common brain beliefs are just plain wrong?

By Shanna Freeman

Parents just don't understand. Scientists didn't understand either, until they got a good look inside the teenage brain -- and what they saw turned what we thought we knew on its head.

By Molly Edmonds

We've all seen the effects that hatred has on our society, but just what is this destructive emotion? And can it be overcome?

By Alia Hoyt

A mass extinction on Earth is long overdue, according to population ecologists. Find out what Earth's fossil record may be telling us about our future.

By Josh Clark

When you see someone else yawn, you often find yourself doing it. Yawning is contagious. But what does that have to do with the ability to feel empathy?

By Josh Clark

The results of three recent studies show that an uncircumcised man is twice as likely to contract AIDS from an infected woman as is a circumcised one.

By Julia Layton

With an ever-increasing number of studies finding a direct connection between sleep deprivation and weight gain, it's difficult to deny the cause-and-effect relationship.

By Julia Layton

Even if you're very ticklish, you probably are incapable of tickling yourself. Learn why.

Nature uses color in lots of different ways. Find out why some types of cabbage are purple and what this means.

How can children from the same parents look so different? I mean, why don't all kids from the same parents look exactly alike, since the parents just have one set of chromosomes each and they don't change?

Learn about weight gain and the processes going on in your cells.

By Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D.