New Research

You Can Be Really Good at Certain Skills Without Having Any Idea How They Work

How well do you know the tools you use every day?

A screenshot from the game Airport Scanner.

It's Relatively Easy to Spot Water Bottles in Airport Scanners; Guns, Not So Much

Researchers plan to examine whether the same tendencies to overlook uncommon items exist among trained TSA professionals, just as it does gamers

Without Nutrients From Conventional Farms, Yields of Organic Crops Could Go Down

Many of the nutrients flowing through organic farms still ultimately derive from conventional farms

A mugger crocodile balances twigs on its nose to tempt birds

Crocodiles Balance Twigs on Their Heads to Lure Nest-Building Birds

While crocodiles and alligators are stereotyped as "lethargic, stupid and boring," researchers say the reptiles are more cunning than they seem

Many Animals, Including the Platypus, Lost Their Stomachs

Not only did those animals toss their stomachs out with the evolutionary garbage, they burned the genetic instructions, too

(A to L) 3D estimates of front views and lateral views rendered as point clouds overlaid with reflectivity data.

This Camera Capture Images in the Dark, Using Just a Few Particles of Light

The most obvious application for this camera is for spying and surveillance, but it may also be used for remote sensing or to study microscopic structures

Baby Mice Can Inherit Fear of Certain Smells From Their Parents

But researchers are far from pinning down the mechanism by which this may be possible, or what specific roles epigenetics plays in human disease

No no no, Guurr, put the mammoth tusk over there, it helps balance the energy.

Neanderthals May Have Practiced the Ancient Art of Interior Design

Excavations showed that Neanderthals may have designed their homes with purpose

Koala

Why Koalas’ Mating Bellows Sound More Like a Choking Tiger, Less Like a Small, Cuddly Herbivore

Koalas use a special pair of "fleshy lips" located outside of their larynx to produce these deep grunts

Cats Recognize Their Owner’s Voice But Choose to Ignore It

Researchers think cats' dismissive attitudes are a product of their evolutionary history over the past 9,000 years

Bodies of would-be native mates may have nourished this invasive female M. caffra, here pictured laying eggs.

New Zealand’s Native Mantises Are a Little Too Attracted to Invasive Females

Nearly 70 percent of love-blinded males that were lured towards the invasive females were then eaten by the object of their desire

People Stay at Jobs Where They Can Have Fun And Work Less Hard

If employee performances were broken down by age, however, the data show that older employees actually increase their sales performance at funner jobs

Shale gas in America

Most Americans Don’t Know What Fracking Is

You know what fracking is, right? If not, we're here to help

Even If It Hurts More, People Rather Just Get A Painful Experience Over With

People can sometimes seem eager to get physically painful experiences out of the way, likely in avoidance of having to dread that impending pain

How Stores Fool Us By Listing the “Original Price” During Sales

From half off deals, to the music they play in the store, marketers are getting ready to release their arsenal of tricks on you

Good Benefits Don’t Make Unemployed People Happy About Being Unemployed

People really don't like being unemployed, and having good unemployment assistance doesn't change that

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Hermit Crabs Avoid Conflict By Developing a Taste for Specific Types of Shells

As the crabs got older, their tolerance for shell diversity decreased, and they honed in on a single shell type they liked best

People Are More Likely to Pay Greed Forward Than Good Deeds

People have little incentive to be nice to one another unless they are part of a specific group that creates some sense of shared identity

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Why Men Tend To Have Bigger Noses Than Women

This also speaks to differences between modern humans and our ancient ancestors, since ancient humans had more muscle mass than we soft creatures of today

Some Kids Outgrow Their Synesthesia

It might be possible to be synesthetic as a kid, but then grow out of it

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