Life

  1. Brain

    Explainer: How our body deals with stress

    Our autonomic nervous system balances two natural responses. If stressed or overwhelmed, simple techniques can help to restore that balance.

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  2. Science & Society

    Does your natural history museum need a makeover?

    A lot of their old-fashioned dioramas — a type of exhibit — are biased, boring or even unscientific. Here’s what modern museums are doing to fix that.

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  3. Tech

    A robotic hand helps piano players’ fingers move faster

    Robotic devices like this might someday help musicians, gamers, athletes or even surgeons improve their dexterity.

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  4. Animals

    A changing Arctic current seems to be impacting bowhead whales

    A teen researcher investigated bowhead whales and found their migrations may be responding to a changing sea current.

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  5. Animals

    Scientists Say: Caecilian

    Some of these amphibians can produce a milk-like liquid for their offspring and give birth to live young. And those aren't the only rules these rebels break.

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  6. Brain

    Having sparse links in the hippocampus may maximize memory storage

    Tissue from the memory centers of people’s brains reveal relatively few links among nerve cells in the hippocampus. But they carried strong, reliable signals.

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  7. Animals

    Tiger beetles weaponize sound to ward off bat predators

    Some beetles make ultrasonic clicks that camouflage them as toxic tiger moths, warning hungry bats to stay away.

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  8. Animals

    Analyze This: When do cats move like liquids?

    Cats flow through narrow openings but hesitate before short openings. That may help them avoid unseen danger in the wild.

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  9. Brain

    Could the magic of memory manipulation ever become real?

    Someday, technology might be able to help people better hold onto memories or forget bad ones.

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  10. Genetics

    This young biologist looked for links between diet and dyslexia

    Thermo Fisher JIC finalist Giselle Drewett wanted to know how lifestyle might influence a gene related to dyslexia.

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  11. Chemistry

    Some bacteria in wastewater can break down a common plastic

    These microbes can break the carbon bonds that make PET plastics so hard to degrade. This type of plastic makes up almost one-third of plastic waste.

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  12. Tech

    Meet 5 types of robots with living body parts

    Creature-machine mash-ups seem weird or even creepy. But biohybrids that make use of living tissue could be the future of robotics.

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