New Research

School Really Should Start Later

Pushing start times back just 25 minutes can increase how much sleep teens get and how productive they are

Please look but don't take.

Beach Tourists Who Collect Shells May Be Harming the Environment

At one beach in Spain, increasing numbers of tourists have caused a 60 percent decline in shell abundance, potentially disrupting the aquatic ecosystem

A couple extra calories isn't going to kill you.

Diet Soda Makes Breathalyzers Think You’re Drunk

Maybe because you are

A New Way to Find Out If Your Chocolate Is Legit

You no longer have to be expert chocolate-taster to tell whether your cacao beans are as fancy as advertised

To Boost Your Chances of Kickstarter Success, Use These Key Phrases

Some phrases shows up time and again in successful Kickstarters, while others are associated with failure

Do Babies Fake Cry?

Babies can be evil little creatures: they can even fake cry

We’ve Got 1.5 Billion Years Left With a Habitable Earth

And then we need to get off this rock

New research suggests that before the age of seven, you can remember plenty from before you were three. But after, you start to forget.

Don’t Give Your Kids and Pets Similar Sounding Names, Or You’ll Confuse Them

Your parents don't actually think you and your sibling are interchangeable

A locust swarm in Israel.

Grasshopper Gut Parasites Could Stop Ruinous Locust Swarms

The microbes confuse the chemical signals that tell pestilent locusts: swarm!

We Burn Just Half the Calories Other Mammals Do

Our slow metabolism helps explain why it takes us so long to grow up—and why we live such long lives

In addition to its limb-like front fins, Tiktaalik had large, mobile rear fins that it used to push itself around in the water.

Ancient Walking Fish May Have Walked on All Fours

A fossilized pelvis shows the fish had functioning rear “legs”

One More Point for Coffee: It Might Boost Memory-Making Abilities

Research indicates that two cups of caffeine-laced coffee might enhance your ability to remember certain details

Did the English discover Canada's west coast hundreds of years before it was officially charted by Spanish explorer Juan Perez?

Francis Drake May Have Discovered Western Canada Hundreds of Years Earlier, Kept Quiet About It

The discovery of a 16th century coin is threatening the story of British Columbia's history

New research suggests that before the age of seven, you can remember plenty from before you were three. But after, you start to forget.

Kids Start Forgetting Early Childhood Around Age 7

Memories of that awesome zoo trip? Those first few birthday cakes? All gone

In the MTV show "16 and Pregnant," viewers get an inside look at the lives of teen moms.

What's the Real Effect of "16 and Pregnant"?

Don’t make major life choices based on something you saw on TV

War elephants depicted in the battle of Zama, 202 BC.

A Lesson from History: When Assembling an Army of War Elephants, Don’t Pick Inbred Ones

Even though African elephants usually trump Asian elephants for might and aggression, in 217 B.C. Ptolemy made the crucial mistake of choosing inbred ones

Rendering of map by artist John Swogger.

This Stone Age Mural Might Be the Oldest Map Ever

But before it can be crowned oldest map, archaeologists have to figure out whether it is a map at all

These Slave-Making Ants Use Stealth, Not Force, to Take Prisoners

Chemical camouflage allow these tiny ants to sneak past enemies' defenses and steal their babies

Washing Old Money Could Save Billions of Dollars

A simple carbon dioxide wash could clean human "sebum" off old money, making those bills good as new

The More Fires Firefighters Are Exposed to, the More Heat Resistant They Become

As firefighters are exposed to more and more fires, their bodies evolve a tolerance for those inhospitable environments

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