All Stories
- Animals
Tamed fox shows domestication’s effects on the brain
Gene activity changes accompany doglike behavior in foxes bred over more than 50 years.
- Life
Fossils point to ancient ape-monkey split
Apes and monkeys split from a common ancestor more than 25 million years ago, fossil finds suggest.
- Earth
Groundwater isolated for eons
At least 1.5 billion years after it last saw the surface, flowing liquid may host life.
- Climate
Warming may not release Arctic carbon
Element could stay locked in soil, 20-year study suggests.
- Life
Body’s clock linked to depression
Gene activity in the brain suggests that circadian rhythms are off-kilter in people with depression.
- Animals
The secret behind the alligator’s toothy smile
Dental stem cells enable the reptile to grow new teeth every year, researchers find.
- Chemistry
Flame quencher offers less toxic approach to fighting fire
New coating could protect furniture without causing health concerns.
- Animals
Cannibalistic spiders may just be choosy guys
Male Micaria sociabilis may choose to have older female for lunch, not sex.
- Humans
Eruption early in human prehistory may have been more whimper than bang
If Hollywood’s right, the apocalypse will be brutal. Aliens, nuclear war, zombies, plague, enslavement by supersmart robots — none of them are good endings. Some archaeologists, however, believe an apocalypse has already come and gone. About 75,000 years ago, they say, a monster volcanic eruption nearly wiped out humankind, leaving behind only a few thousand people to […]
- Climate
Carbon dioxide in atmosphere reaches landmark level
At 400 parts per million, greenhouse gas concentration is now higher than it has been for millions of years.
- Earth
Japan’s 2011 earthquake upped Tokyo’s risk
Chance more than doubled that capital city will soon experience big temblor, researchers calculate.
- Life
Exploration forges differences in identical twins
Mice with the same genes and surroundings diverged in brain development depending on how much they moved around their environment.
