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Stories from REPRINT AUTHOR PLACEHOLDER

Brown-headed cowbirds perch together on a branch in southern Arizona. The species is a brood parasite, sneaking their eggs into other birds’ nests in an attempt to steal parental care.

A Revealing Look Into the Surprisingly Tricky Sex Lives of Birds

Even among the most durable migratory bird pairings, sexual exclusivity is rarely part of their relationship

At this point, there is no shortage of stories that have posed some form of the question, “Why are voice assistants always female?”

Synthetic Voices Shed Light on the Deep-Rooted Gender Biases Embedded in our Tech

An expert on the impacts of information technologies on society considers how talking machines got their male- and female-sounding voices

Illustration of a human cancer cell

How Do Cancer Cells Migrate to New Tissues and Take Hold?

Scientists are looking for answers about how these confounding trips, known as metastases, occur throughout the human body

The city of Potosí rests at high altitude in Bolivia.

Can Researchers Find Remedies for the Problems Created by High-Altitude Pregnancies?

In people not adapted to life at altitude, the sparse oxygen can impair fetal growth, causing issues that can last a lifetime

During conversations, interjections act as vital traffic signals.

Huh? Interjections Are Critically Important to Communication

Utterances like “um,” “wow” and “mm-hmm” aren’t garbage—they keep conversations flowing

Reno’s downtown, where paved surfaces gather heat and buildings block cooling breezes, can feel stifling on a hot summer day.

Citizen Scientists Are Hitting the Streets of the Country’s Fastest-Warming Cities to Collect Detailed Temperature Data

The heat mapping of metros like Reno, Nevada, could be key to taming urban heat, saving lives and designing for a cooler future

Transplanting pig organs into people may soon become routine.

The Future of Transplanting Pig Organs in People

After years of research into xenotransplantation, the field is at a turning point—yet risks and ethical issues remain

A hatchling Kemp's ridley sea turtle

Inside the Herculean Effort to Study and Save the World’s Smallest Sea Turtle

After years of steady gains, a decades-long conservation program dedicated to the Kemp’s ridley hits rough seas

Dead trees teem with life.

What Happens to a Tree That Dies in a Forest?

Rotting logs turn out to be vital to forest biodiversity and recycling organic matter

A 1910 watercolor portrait of Belle da Costa Greene by Laura Coombs Hills

The Trailblazing Black Librarian Who Rewrote the Rules of Power, Gender and Racial Passing

Belle da Costa Greene, the first director of the Morgan Library, was a Black woman who passed as white in the early 20th century

The curious qualities of laughter can surprise, delight or even silence.

Why Does Laughter Have Such a Strange Power Over Us?

An anthropologist explores why the phenomenon has the ability to delight, disturb and disrupt

The palm oil industry in Indonesia has led to widespread deforestation, making it hard to find remaining signs of archaic life.

The Search to Find the Remains of Homo Erectus in a Vanishing Landscape

A paleontologist journeys through Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago in search of our earliest ancestors, and uncovers how environmental devastation has erased much of the region’s history

A firefighter works as the Hughes Fire burns north of Los Angeles on January 22.

Welcome to the Pyrocene

Human use of fire has produced an era of uncontrolled burning

A vast mosaic of cells, some that are identical and some that are slightly different, make up the human body.

Why Is Every Human Being Riddled With Genetic Errors?

Your body is a collection of cells carrying thousands of genetic mistakes accrued over a lifetime—many harmless, some bad and at least a few that may be good for you

The world’s first Covid-19 human challenge study was born in early 2021.

What Have We Learned From Intentionally Infecting People With Covid-19?

Challenge trials help researchers study immune responses. Skeptics still doubt the approach is worth the risks

Illustration from a 16th-century Falnama, or Persian Book of Omens

How People of the Past Predicted the Future, From Spider Divination to Bibliomancy

A new exhibition spotlights the ways in which cultures around the world have sought answers in the face of uncertainty

Some people are genetically built to require less sleep than the rest of us.

Why Do Some People Thrive on So Little Sleep?

Short sleepers cruise by on four to six hours a night and don’t seem to suffer ill effects

Scientists have discovered the strongest evidence yet that healthy vertebrates can have brain microbiomes.

Fish Have a Brain Microbiome. Could Humans Have One Too?

The discovery that other vertebrates have healthy microbial brains is fueling questions about our own brains

The plant-based egg substitutes available today are less than perfect. Food scientists are working hard to improve them — and, maybe, make them better tasting and more nutritious than the real thing.

Scientists Are Trying to Crack the Recipe for the Perfect Plant-Based Eggs

With new ingredients and processes, the next generation of substitutes will be not just more egg-like, but potentially more nutritious

A painted lady perches on a flower.

Where Do Butterflies Migrate From? Clues Can Be Found in Pollen on Their Bodies

Trillions of insects move around the globe each year. Scientists are working on new ways to map those long-distance journeys

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