Life
- Brain
The weight of thought
Thinking heavy thoughts? Scientists have just put people on a balance and shown that the brain briefly gains blood — becoming a bit heavier — while concentrating.
- Animals
Dissecting the dog paddle
Scientists occasionally describe the dog paddle as a “trot,” but that’s not right. When dogs swim, their complicated leg motions look more like a frantic run.
- Brain
Memory lessons from a forgetful brain
Scientists have just begun probing the preserved tissue from “H.M.” Even five years after he died, this man’s brain continues to offer lessons on how people make — or fail to make — memories.
- Genetics
Blue eyes in the Stone Age
Genes from an ancient skeleton suggest that dark-skinned people may have been the first to evolve blue eyes.
- Health & Medicine
Bones: They’re alive!
This hard tissue is more than just a quiet scaffold for your organs and protective helmet for your head. It’s active and ‘chatty,’ influencing other tissues.
- Animals
Wild medicine
Few veterinarians are available to treat sick animals in their natural environment. Fortunately, some critters can doctor themselves.
- Animals
The bad-breath defense
The nicotine in tobacco that poisons some creatures can also act as a chemical defense — at least for some caterpillars. The bad breath it gives these insects repels natural predators, such as spiders.
- Brain
Erasing memories
Electroconvulsive therapy is used to treat severe depression, but the electrical jolt it sends into the brain also may erase bad memories.
- Animals
Why are bees vanishing?
Scientists find evidence that pesticides, disease and other threats are devastating bees. And that could hurt farmers big time.
- Genetics
Ancient DNA sparks new mystery
DNA from a 400,000-year-old leg bone found in Spain is by far the oldest recovered from pre-human ancestors. It also shows an unexpected link to later, Asian ‘kin.’
- Animals
How seahorses use their heads
A dwarf seahorse’s head may look funny, but its shape allows the creature to sneak up on fast-moving prey.
- Animals
Look ma — no stomach
Many animals can digest their meals without an acid-producing stomach. And research now shows they jettisoned those stomachs a long, long time ago.
