Brian Handwerk

Brian Handwerk is a science correspondent based in Amherst, New Hampshire.

Bagels always have just one hole, making them useful for illustrating one of topology's core concepts. Also, they are delicious.

Nobel Physics Prize Goes to Exploration of Exotic Matter, Explained in Bagels

Winners probed superconductors and superfluids, launching the ongoing hunt for strange phases of matter

Hello, I am goat.

What Living Like Goats and Badgers Can Teach Us About Ourselves

Two Englishmen won the Ig Nobel Prize for eating grass, earthworms and worse in the name of science

H.G. Wells was one of the first science fiction writers.

The Many Futuristic Predictions of H.G. Wells That Came True

Born 150 years ago, H.G. Wells predicted, and inspired, inventions from the laser to email

Reconstruction of Lucy’s vertical deceleration event, by the authors of the new study.

Did Anthropologists Just Solve the 3-Million-Year-Old Mystery of Lucy’s Death?

Researchers think they've reconstructed the fatal plunge and last terrifying seconds of the hominin's life

Can scientists make cardboard diet food taste like the real deal?

Food Tasting Too Healthy? Just Add Scent

How scientists use smell to trick tastebuds—and brains

Move over, tortoises: These sharks take the prize for oldest living vertebrate.

These Ridiculously Long-Lived Sharks Are Older Than the United States, and Still Living It Up

The lifespans of these marine methuselahs may double those of oldest living tortoises, a creative dating method finds

An English Bulldog was featured in the American Kennel Club's presentation of The Nation's Most Popular Breeds Of 2015 on February 22, 2016 in New York City.

Bulldogs Are Dangerously Unhealthy, But There May Not Be Enough Diversity in Their Genes to Save Them

How we loved this dog into a genetic bind

Ducks: We rule the world.

Defying Stereotypes, Ducklings Are as Clever as They Are Cute

Newborn ducks understand abstract concepts such as sameness and difference with no training whatsoever

A reconstruction of naked chrysopoid larva with "dorsal basket."

Some Ancient Insects Wore the Exoskeletons of Other Bugs to Disguise Themselves

New amber specimens show that insects have been mastering the art of disguise for 100 million years

African dogs, it turns out, make some of the best dads in the mammal world.

Rare 'Family Guy' Mammal Dads Give Us All Something to Strive For

Let’s give a Father’s Day shout-out to mammal dads who put family first—and benefit themselves as well

A female mosquito in the process of feeding on a human host.

Malaria, Zika and Dengue Could Meet Their Match in Mosquito-Borne Bacteria

A common bacteria that infects mosquitoes seems to prevent them from carrying more deadly diseases.

Is there a benefit to being overworked?

Being Super Busy May* Be Good for Your Brain

*Does busyness boost cognition, or do people with better cognition tend to keep busy?

Rudolf Hess, at right, was a Nazi leader when he flew to Scotland in May of 1941.

Will We Ever Know Why Nazi Leader Rudolf Hess Flew to Scotland in the Middle of World War II?

The remarkable tale of insanity, espionage, and conspiracies remains unanswered after 75 years

How sleepy you are may depend on a number of factors, including age and where in the world you live.

Smartphone Study Uncovers Why So Much of the World is Short on Sleep

Age, gender and nationality impact how much we sleep, and social pressures rob many of needed rest

Playtime with baby can help expand a child’s attention span, a new study shows.

Infants Learn to Pay Attention (or Not) From Watching Mom and Dad

Parents who focus on play may help babies develop critical skills that predict future success

German beers have been under strict rules for 500 years.

Celebrating 500 Years of German’s Beer Purity Law

Germany's treasured—and controversial—rule has a fascinating past and an uncertain future

Friends or strangers? Listeners may be able to tell just from the sound of the pair’s laughter.

Who's Laughing Now? Listeners Can Tell if Laughers are Friends or Not

We laugh differently with friends, and the reasons may lie deep in our social evolution

In a reconstruction, by artist John Gurche, the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum displays what the Hobbit would have looked like in the Hall of Human Origins.

“Hobbits” Disappeared Much Earlier Than Previously Thought

If the tiny hominins ever coexisted with modern humans, the arrangement apparently didn't last long

The Right Body Language Can Boost Odds of Online Dating Success

Potential partners size you up in seconds, and the way you sit or stand matters

The fossil skull of the human ancestor Australopithecus africanus, which had more robust teeth and jaws than modern humans.

A Taste for Raw Meat May Have Helped Shape Human Evolution

Stone tools might have let our ancestors more easily chew and digest meat, which in turn may have changed our teeth and jaws

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