Humans
- Brain
Pain is contagious — at least in mice
Pain can move from one mouse to another. The trigger may be smell.
- Health & Medicine
4 reasons why many people don’t vote
The United States has a terrible voter turnout. Scientists have turned up some data to explain why that is.
- Health & Medicine
4 research-backed ways to get people to vote
Millions of Americans who are eligible to vote won’t bother to go to the polls. Scientists, though, are finding ways to get more of these people into the voting booth.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists Say: Saturated fat
Saturated fats are found in meat and dairy products. Their long, straight chemical chains make them solid in your fridge and on your plate.
- Environment
Rocket nozzle research propels teen to big win
A 13-year old won the top prize at this year’s Broadcom MASTERS science competition. She had determined the best shape for a rocket nozzle.
- Brain
Out-of-whack body clock causes more than sleepiness
When the body’s “clock” doesn’t match the cues its getting from outside, people can feel bad. Researchers are using math to explain this “circadian-time sickness.”
- Brain
Teen brains may have an advantage — better learning
The teen brain is infamous for prizing rewards and encouraging risky behavior. But their reward-driven behavior may help those teens learn some things better than adults.
- Brain
Zombies are real!
Some parasites worm their way into other creatures’ brains and alter their victims’ behavior. Meet zombie ants, spiders, cockroaches, fish and more.
- Climate
How fossil fuel use threatens kids’ health
A children’s health expert says kids suffer more than any other group from the many impacts of fossil fuel burning.
- Humans
Big Viking families got away with murder
The most deadly Vikings came from families that were big enough to discourage revenge.
- Health & Medicine
Surprise! Most ‘color vision’ cells see only black or white
Cone cells in the eye’s retina can see black, white or color. The black and white ones may create sharp outlines and edges that color-sensing cones then fill in like parts of a coloring page.
- Climate
Globe’s non-Africans all descend from a single move out of Africa
Look back far enough and everybody’s ancestors were African no more than 72,000 years ago. Climate scientists would up that date to perhaps 100,000 years ago.
