New Research

Playing With Smartphones Isn't Going to Damage Toddlers

Tablets and TVs can be both good and bad for your child

Mind Control Turns Mouse Genes On and Off And Could Treat Diseases

An innovative experiment in mice shows how scientists could develop medications that dispense with the power of thought

A scanning electron micrograph of Escherichia coli, one of the most common species of gut bacteria.

More Evidence That There's a Connection Between a Person's Gut Bacteria And Brain

Bacteria can affect your brain, but it's still too early to do much with the information

Why Charging for Plastic Bags Makes People Give Them Up

It's all about setting up psychological tripping blocks

What Do Glaciers Say When They Sing?

Glaciers make some curious sounds

Living in Tough Environments Makes People More Prone to Belief in God

People living in harsh natural environments are more likely to believe in a tough, moralizing god

Beyond Owls And Larks: There Are Four Types of Sleepers

The two new groups include people who are rather energetic all day and others who are lethargic

A Single Smelly Compound Sparks Carnivores' Lust for Blood

When given scented wooden blocks soaked in this single chemical, captive carnivores go wild

How Cats Transformed From Wild Animals to Cuddly Companions

Genetically, there's not that much separating feline pets from jungle beasts

Can’t Clap to the Beat? You Might be Beat-Deaf

For some people, tapping their foot to the beat is a challenge at a fundamental level

Performers in "Multiverse" during the opening of a 2010 art festival in Kiev

What If There Are Parallel Universes Jostling Ours?

It could explain a lot of weird, quantum physics

Large Dinosaurs Had a Nesting Strategy to Avoid Breaking Eggs

Oviaptorosaurs likely kept their eggs in open nests—more like bird than crocodiles—but needed to arrange their eggs carefully

Scientists Figured Out How to Make People "Feel" an Otherworldly Presence

Feeling like a ghost or an angel is near is likely caused by a blip in how our brain processes self awareness and our sense of place in space

Arctic Squirrels Use Steroids to Bulk Up But Don’t Suffer the Consequences

Fat alone couldn’t get these squirrels through hibernation in burrows that get almost as chilly as -10 degrees Fahrenheit

Mexican free-tailed bats can be real jerks to their friends.

On Summer Nights, Some Bats Like to Jam

Mexican free-tailed bats “jam” each others’ echolocation calls to discombobulate competitors

Nearly 400 Journalists Have Been Murdered Over the Past Ten Years

Only ten percent of their killers are ever reprimanded

Village clearings deep in the Peruvian Amazon, as spotted by a satellite.

Should We Use Satellites to Keep an Eye on Remote Amazonian Tribes?

Satellite monitoring could help keep tabs on indigenous people without invasive visits to their remote homes

Scratching an Itch Soothes, But Then Your Brain Makes it Worse

Pain overrides itchiness temporarily but neurotransmitters released to cope with that pain reactivate the itch neurons

A baby penguin and its parent greet the disguised rover.

Rovers Disguised as Baby Penguins Can Quietly Infiltrate Penguin Colonies

Normally wary penguins seem unfazed when there's a smartly dressed robot in their midst

Did the Gladiators Drink an Energy Drink Made of Ash?

Gladiators were getting extra calcium in their diet

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