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Music works deep into our brains.

Eight New Things We’ve Learned About Music

It’s right up there with food, sex and drugs when its comes to stirring up pleasure responses in our brains

Children of the 1980s Build Their Cities of Tomorrow

Kids tend to be pretty optimistic, but each generation betrays its own fears about the future

Hikers ascend through the smog of Los Angeles, one of six cities where researchers studied the effects of air pollution on the heart.

Heart Attacks May Be Linked to Air Pollution

Research in six U.S. cities shows a connection between prolonged exposure to fine particulate matter in the air and a faster hardening of the arteries

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As Tigers Dwindle, Poachers Turn to Lions for ‘Medicinal’ Bones

Because wildlife managers are overwhelmed by the rhino horn poaching epidemic, investigations into missing lions will likely take second place

“Classic Harmonica Blues,” out on May 21, features 20 tracks by the blues’ greatest harmonica players.

Inhaling the Blues: How Southern Black Musicians Transformed the Harmonica

A conversation with the producer of “Classic Harmonica Blues,” an album that captures a harmonica revolution

In the Amazon, María Gloria Domínguez-Bello and her team collected about 1,500 DNA samples to identify any microbe species that modern medicine may have wiped out.

Microbe Hunters

Deep in the Amazon Rainforest, scientists search for the micro-organisms that lived inside ancient humans

Animal Rights Activists Make Off With One Hundred Mutant Mice

Animal rights activists ruined years of important research on diseases such as autism and schizophrenia

Brain scans show that the neurological patterns linked with pangs of empathy for humans also occur when we see a robot like WALL-E treated harshly.

Neuroscience Explores Why Humans Feel Empathy for Robots

Brain scans show that the neurological patterns linked with pangs of empathy for humans also occur when we see a robot treated harshly

Artificial Brains May Be the Best Way to Control Electricity

Researchers attempted to put the brain - or at least its cells - to the task of intelligently managing the country’s future power supply

A difference of nearly four decades: at top, a ski area in Aspen, Colorado last year, captured by Ron Hoffman; at bottom, the same location in 1974, shot by Dustin Wesley.

Before and After: America’s Environmental History

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Which Primate Is the Most Likely Source of the Next Pandemic?

To help anticipate the next outbreak of an emerging infectious disease, scientists scrutinize our closest relatives in the animal kingdom

By combining genes from different bacteria species, scientists created E. coli that can produce diesel fuel from fat.

Genetically Modified E. Coli Bacteria Can Now Synthesize Diesel Fuel

By combining genes from different bacteria species, scientists created E. coli that can consume fat and excrete diesel fuel

A contemporary painting depicting—rather sensationally—the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie. The events surrounding their deaths have attracted abundant rumor and legend, none stranger than the suggestion that the car that they were murdered in was cursed.

Curses! Archduke Franz Ferdinand and His Astounding Death Car

Was the man whose assassination began World War I riding in a car destined to bring death to a series of owners?

The Cyrus Cylinder is sometimes called the oldest declaration of human rights. See it on display and hear its story on Tuesday at the Sackler Gallery.

Events April 23-25: Cyrus Cylinder, Collage Art and a Craft Show

This week, hear about one of history’s most important artifacts, see how assemblage changed the definition of art and peruse crafts by 121 artists

Lake Louise, one of the world’s most beautiful compositions of water, rock and ice, belongs to Canada. The small lake attracts throngs of tourists while serving as a stepping stone to surrounding wilderness areas of the Rocky Mountains.

From Sea to Shining Sea: Great Ways to Explore Canada

Here are six ways to experience the greatest scenery of America’s neighbor to the north

ZnO Fall Flowers. Image by Audrey Forticaux, a graduate student in the Chemistry Department

Intriguing Science Art From the University of Wisconsin

From a fish’s dyed nerves to vapor strewn across the planet, images submitted to a contest at the university offer new perspectives of the natural world

Bill Drayton is this year’s recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Creativity Laureate Award.

How Can We Teach the World Empathy? Bill Drayton Says He Knows How

The founder of Ashoka, a network of global social entrepreneurs, is taking on education to change the world

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10 Things We’ve Learned About the Earth Since Last Earth Day

Pigeon-eating catfish, Antarctic trash, and more: A list of surprising, alarming and exciting discoveries about our planet from the past year

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What Modern Art Looks Like As Yummy Dessert

Pastry chef Caitlin Freeman uses inspiration from modern art to whip up cakes, cookies and other desserts

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Nikola Tesla’s Amazing Predictions for the 21st Century

The famed inventor believed “the solution of our problems does not lie in destroying but in mastering the machine”

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