Life Science

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

Psychopaths can commit horrible crimes without feeling any guilt at all. A recent study of psychopathic brains may shed some light on what's going on -- or not going on -- in these people's heads.

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?

Batesian mimicry is an evolutionary strategy used by vulnerable species to look like a dangerous species so predators will leave them alone. But it only works under the right circumstances.

By Jesslyn Shields

A Punnett square helps predict the possible ways an organism will express certain genetic traits, such as purple flowers or blue eyes.

By Jesslyn Shields

Footprints unearthed at White Sands National Park in New Mexico were made some 23,000 years ago. That's much earlier than scientists have previously placed humans in the Americas.

By Matthew Robert Bennett & Sally Christine Reynolds

Scientists at the Natural History Museum in London described 552 species in 2021, including a couple of dinosaurs.

By Jesslyn Shields

Even if you've never seen a saguaro in person, when you think "cactus," you're probably thinking "saguaro."

By Jesslyn Shields

It's more than just a cool trick. Monitoring that invisible animal DNA could have huge benefits for animal conservation.

By Alia Hoyt

Whole genome sequencing can analyze a baby's DNA and search for mutations that may cause health issues now or later in life. But how prepared are we for this knowledge and should it be used on all babies?

By Joanna Thompson

Do the sewers hold the answers to the next COVID-19 surge? And what else can testing samples of untreated wastewater tell us about the health of our communities?

By Jennifer Walker-Journey

One in three people consistently struggle through the autumn and winter months with a type of depression known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Here are some tips for dealing with it.

By Harriet Bowyer

Scientists have determined that years of ivory poaching to fund Mozambique's civil war altered the genetics of the country's elephants. But it only affected the females. A new study tells why.

By Joanna Thompson

The 2003 announcement that scientists had completed the first human genome came with an 8 percent gap. Now that gap has been filled and the first end-to-end human genome has been published.

By Gabrielle Hartley

Ever find yourself momentarily disoriented in a familiar place or encounter a friend who looks like a stranger? You could be experiencing jamais vu.

By Jennifer Walker-Journey

Does it bug you when people around you fidget? If it does, you have something called misokinesia and you are not alone because one-third of those studied felt the same way.

By Todd Handy & Sumeet Jaswal

CRISPR is the genius behind innovations that seemed impossible a decade ago. Could you grow tomatoes with the kick of hot sauce or ferment wine that doesn't cause a hangover? That's just two of the things scientists are looking into.

By Joanna Thompson

Research shows no two brains are put together quite the same way. And we can find out the patterns in under two minutes.

By Jesslyn Shields

Could your impulse buying really not be your fault? New research is looking at how the physiology of our brains affects our financial life.

By Julia Layton

This week, a group of London-based scientists requested official permission to begin a three-year study involving stem cells derived from human-cow hybrids.

By Julia Layton

To achieve stability despite quick eye movements, the eyes take before and after shots of an image and compare them. Now, scientists may have finally discovered how.

By Julia Layton

Hereditary illnesses are passed down from parents to their children like gene traits, and children might inherit a disease even though their parents never suffered from its symptoms. Learn about hereditary illnesses.

By Alvin Eden & Elizabeth Eden