All Stories
- Science & Society
World population may reach 12.3 billion in 2100
The number of people on the planet is likely to keep rising over the next century.
- Genetics
Genetic data rewrite the prehistory of Europe
The genomes of nine ancient and 2,345 living humans have changed the story of modern Europeans' origins.
- Earth
Shrinking ancient sea may have spawned Sahara Desert
The Saharan Desert probably formed 7 million years ago as the ancient Tethys Sea, the forerunner of the Mediterranean Sea, shrank.
- Tech
Octobot uses webbed arms to swim faster
Octopus-inspired robot could one day help researchers observe underwater ecosystems.
- Math
Sharks’ hunting paths may not be driven by math
Penguins, tuna, sharks and other marine hunters have been shown to use math to find food. But simulations suggest the behavior is a result of rough water, not complex calculation.
- Materials Science
Making metamaterials ‘digital’ could simplify invisibility cloaks
The digital world of 1s and 0s has inspired a simpler way to make complex metamaterials.
- Life
Artificial sweeteners may tip scales toward metabolic problems
The artificial sweetener saccharin meddles with the gut’s microbial community, setting in motion metabolic changes associated with obesity and diabetes.
- Anthropology
Strategy, not habitat loss, leads chimps to kill rivals
Human impacts on chimpanzees have not increased their violence.
- Animals
Mama deer respond to the cries of human babies
Deer mothers approached a speaker playing distress calls of young mammals when the frequency fell into the same range as fawns.
- Health & Medicine
Rounder waists show obesity continues to rise
The waistlines of U.S. adults continue to expand, running counter to a report that obesity, based on body mass index, did not increase substantially in the past decade.
- Health & Medicine
Sleep drunkenness might be common
A new survey shows that about 15 percent of people sometimes wake up disoriented and confused, a condition called sleep drunkenness.
- Psychology
Training the overweight brain to abstain
A new study shows that brain changes are associated with a weight-loss behavioral intervention, but it may be a while before we can train our brains to prefer peppers over pork chops.
