Life
- Brain
Soccer: Watch out for collisions!
Scientists discover that concussions among high school soccer players stem more from aggressive contact between players than from heading the ball.
- Health & Medicine
Gender: When the body and brain disagree
Researchers are working to untangle the highly complex relationship between our biology and our identity. In some individuals, a conflict can emerge, leading to a transgender identity.
- Brain
Explainer: Sometimes the body mixes up male and female
Certain medical conditions demonstrate how complicated biology can be. Being genetically male and female will not guarantee that your body won’t sometimes contain one or more features of both.
- Animals
Explainer: Male-female flexibility in animals
Some animals behave as if they were the opposite sex; others can even change their sex — and still produce offspring.
- Brain
Sugar makes mice sleepy
Sugar may amp up sleep-promoting cells in the brain, a new study in mice finds.
- Health & Medicine
Pain relief could come from a ‘drugstore’ for cells
Mice with nerve damage can be treated for pain with an injection of cells from bone marrow. Scientists have now figured out why this works.
- Chemistry
Bacteria become source of ‘greener’ blue jeans
Manufacturing indigo to dye blue jeans now relies on harmful chemicals. But researchers have found a less polluting way to produce the blue tint: bacteria.
- Brain
To protect kids, get the lead out!
Lead poisons hundreds of thousands of children. In Chicago, experts show how the toxic metal hurts test performance in school.
- Chemistry
Secret to rose scent surprises scientists
Scientists discovered the molecular tool that roses use to make fragrance. And it wasn’t what they expected.
- Brain
Smell test may detect autism
A new study finds that kids with autism sniff foul scents for as long as pleasing ones. The finding could lead to a test to diagnose the disorder.
- Animals
Why seahorses have square tails
The unique shape of a seahorse tail provides strength, and it may also help the fish to grasp objects.
- Health & Medicine
How this vitamin can foster pimples
Oh no! Vitamin B12 can cause skin bacteria to secrete chemicals that cause zits.
