Biology

Geneticists Think They Can Fix Tasteless Tomatoes

By identifying the genes that control the production of volatile chemicals, we could soon turn the bland tomato's flavor back on

In Space, Infectious Diseases Reveal Their True Nature

It turns out that microgravity might reveal a thing or two about the nasty bacteria

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Saving Top Predators Could Have a Climate Change Benefit, Too

Through their effect on the food web, shifting predator populations can change greenhouse gas levels

Chimpanzees Remember Things Faster Than You Do

Chimpanzees are several times stronger than us, generally healthier, and research suggests that they might have better memories too

Neuroscientists Have Created Mice That Can’t Sense Cold

The end goal is to help develop drugs that more thoroughly knock out the feeling of pain

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Not Only Can Plants Talk to Each Other, They Listen More Closely to Their Relatives

Plants speak with chemical cues, and they listen more carefully to their close relatives

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Tourists’ Photos Could Help Scientists Understand Whale Sharks

Every year, tourists take approximately a bazillion pictures. Most of them never wind up anywhere but someone's hard drive, never seen again, but some of those pictures might actually be useful. Especially if they're of whale sharks

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These Sneaky Toxins Are Slipping Past Food Regulators

Chemical mask-wearing mycotoxins can slip past screening techniques

Researchers thought that male fish, affected by artificial hormones in waste water, were growing eggs. This turned out to not be true.

California’s Gender-Bending Fish Was Actually Just a Contamination Accident

Scientists thought male fish, exposed to artificial hormones, were growing eggs. They weren't

A moose in Alaska’s Denali National Park and Preserve.

Minnesota’s Moose Are Missing, And No One Really Knows Why

Disease? Warm summers? No one knows for sure what is leading to the moose's decline in this state

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The Unsettling Beauty of Lethal Pathogens

British artist Luke Jerram's handblown glass sculptures show the visual complexity and delicacy of E. coli, swine flu, malaria and other killing agents

Wisdom the Albatross with the chick she hatched last year.

At 62, the Oldest Bird in the World Is Still Hatching Chicks

Wisdom the 62 year-old albatross just hatched what is thought to be her 30 to 35th chick

How to Sleep Like Salvador Dali

Dali felt as though sleep was a waste of time (so did Edison, and many other influential people) but science suggests that sleep is pretty important

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Your Playlist Really Does Impact Your Workout

A slow jam won't get you through that third mile, and smooth jazz isn't going to kick that kickboxing workout up a notch. It's not just personal preference either - it's science

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The Year’s Most Outstanding Science Visualizations

A juried competition honors photographs, illustrations, videos, posters, games and apps that marry art and science in an evocative way

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What Makes Muscles Twitch?

Whether it's your eyelid twitching, an involuntary shudder, or a muscle elsewhere contracting at random, twitchy muscles happen to everyone. But what are they, and why do they happen?

‘Beatrice the Swabia’ is a baby Coquerel’s sifaka

Lemurs Are the Most Endangered Mammals on the Planet, And This Adorable Baby Is Their Future

The vast majority of lemur species are facing extinction, but this baby Coquerel's safika is trying to help

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Some Microbes Are So Resilient They Can Ride Hurricanes

By comparison, other lifeforms such as fungal spores and pollen don’t thrive nearly as well as the microbes, the survey found.

Doug E. Fresh (shown above, performing at the Legends of Hip Hop Tour in February 2011) was a beatboxing pioneer in the 1980s.

Beatboxing, as Seen Through Scientific Images

To see how certain sound effects are humanly possible, a team of University of Southern California researchers took MRI scans of a beatboxer in action

A camera passes down through the borehole.

First Signs of Life Found in Antarctica’s Subglacial Lakes

Preliminary tests from subglacial Lake Willard have shown signs of life

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