Life

Brain

Scientists Say: Hallucination

Humans are not the only ones who can hallucinate. When a chatbot confidently generates a plausible but incorrect response, this error is called a hallucination.

Plants

Yum! Flies swarm to a flower that smells like wounded ants

A type of Japanese dogsbane emits the distress signal of injured ants — a particular scent — to draw in scavenging flies that end up pollinating its flowers.

Animals

Is it possible to be invisible?

Fiction is full of characters with the power to vanish. But some animals have real-life ways to become nearly invisible.

Microbes

Let’s learn about viruses

Viruses cause a huge range of illnesses, but vaccines can help protect you against these infections.

Animals

RNA from mummified woolly mammoth is the oldest ever recovered

Genetic details from the animal, named Yuka, give a snapshot into its last moments alive. The mammoth had been preserved in permafrost for 40,000 years.

Animals

Radioactive animals don’t glow — but do show the power of radiation

Wild species exposed to nuclear contamination help show how radiation affects living things — including its risks to people.

Fossils

Here’s why ammolite gems have a rainbow shimmer

The fossils’ fabulous colors arise from delicate assemblies of crystal plates.

Life

Scientists Say: Taxonomy

This field of study does more than just organize living things. It also reflects the history of life's evolution.

Life

Let’s learn about life forms that have survived in space

Moss spores, bacteria and tardigrades have all proved their hardiness outside the International Space Station.

Animals

Some Antarctic fish arrange their nests into odd shapes

Scientists found nests organized into curves, clusters and ovals on the Antarctic seabed. Such groupings may protect the fish eggs from predators.

Fossils

Newfound fossil is not a teen T. rex but a whole new species

Now known as Nanotyrannus, this mini dino could have roamed the late Cretaceous alongside T. rex.

Brain

Hypnosis isn’t magic. It’s the brain at work

While we still don’t know much about how hypnosis works, it appears to help some people conquer pain, anxiety and other problems.