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Scientists Investigate Whether the City Mouse Is Smarter Than the Country Mouse
Contrary to biologists’ expectations, critters living in cities don’t always have an adaptive edge over their rural counterparts
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Why Do We Yawn and Why Is It Contagious?
Pinpointing exactly why we yawn is a tough task, but the latest research suggests that our sleepy sighs help to regulate the temperature of our brains
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How the Human Body Evolved to Throw Fastballs
Our shoulder flexibility allows us to hurl things at high speeds compared to other primates—a trait we likely evolved for hunting two million years ago
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Why We Should Study Cancer Like We Study Ecosystems
Like pine beetles sickening a forest as they spread, cancer can be seen as a disruption in the balance of a complex microenvironment in the human body
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Scientists Use Snails to Trace Stone Age Trade Routes in Europe
Why is a snail variety found only in Ireland and the Pyrenees? DNA analysis suggests that it hitched a boat ride with early travelers
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Do Geography and Altitude Shape the Sounds of a Language?
Languages that evolve at high elevations are more likely to include a sound that’s easier to make when the air is thinner, new research shows
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Gestures of Human and Ape Infants Are More Similar Than You Might Expect
Comparing the body language of baby chimps, bonobos and humans suggests that gesticulation came first in the evolution of speaking
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Scientists Discover the Genetic Reason Why Birds Don’t Have Penises
Developing bird embryos do have penis precursors, it turns out, but a genetic signal causes the penis cells to die off during gestation
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When Large Birds Disappear, Rainforests Suffer
A century after toucans and toucanets disappeared from patches of Brazilian jungle, trees have evolved to have smaller, weaker seeds
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Scientists Finally Pinpoint the Pathogen That Caused the Irish Potato Famine
DNA analysis of 166-year-old potato plant leaves has revealed the disease strain that caused the starvation of millions
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Solving an Alligator Mystery May Help Humans Regrow Lost Teeth
A gator can replace all of its teeth up to 50 times—learning what triggers these new teeth to grow may someday keep us from needing dentures
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Baby Weddell Seals Have the Most Adult-Like Brains in the Animal Kingdom
The newborn seal pups possess the most well-developed brains compared to other mammals, but that advantage comes with a cost
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Baby Sand Tiger Sharks Devour Their Siblings While Still in the Womb
This seemingly horrific reproduction strategy may be a way for females to better control which males sire her offspring
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Why Women Like Deep Voices and Men Prefer High Ones
We find different pitches attractive because of the body size they signal—and a touch of breathiness is crucial to take the edge off deep voices in men
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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
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DNA Sequencing Reveals that Coelacanths Weren’t the Missing Link Between Sea and Land
The rare fish’s genome is slowly evolving—and contrary to prior speculation, it probably isn’t the common ancestor of all land animals
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What Makes Rain Smell So Good?
A mixture of plant oils, bacterial spores and ozone is responsible for the powerful scent of fresh rain
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Why Geckos Don’t Slip Off Wet Jungle Leaves or Hotel Ceilings
A surface’s ability to attract and repel water heavily influences the degree to which a gecko can cling overhead, new research shows
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Brown Polar Bears, Beluga-Narwhals and Other Hybrids Brought to You by Climate Change
Animals with shrinking habitats are interbreeding, temporarily boosting populations but ultimately hurting species’ survival
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Video: This Lizard-Inspired Robot Can Scamper Across Sand
It’s a product of the emerging field of terradynamics, which studies the movement of vehicles across shifting surfaces
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