Stories by Charles Q. Choi

A fossil search for why some critters made it past the dinosaur-killing event

Scientists are creating transgenic mosquitoes with reduced ability to carry the devastating diseases that have plagued much of humanity. But will these modifications also generate more virulent infections?

Snorting oxytocin, shown in recent years to trigger all kinds of feel-good emotions, might also incite envy and gloating

Also: burning nitrogen, cancer clue in Down's syndrome, and gallons per mile

The first artificial organelle may help lead to safer heparin production and, someday, entire artificial cells.

New experiments show how ant colonies don't fall prey to irrational choices as humans sometimes do

Versatile, easy-to-replace "microliths" found in south Asia could have helped early humans better tame their environments

Also: ants: "I'm not dead yet," a lower high-water mark, working on the railroad, and temptation zone

Macaque mothers demonstrate tool use to their young

Macaque mothers demonstrate tool use to their young

Genetic evidence suggests that juvenile traits helped separate chimps from us

Mineralized skin samples suggest that the plant-eating hadrosaur may have been larger and faster than thought

Also: ending nerve damage from needles, "caveman" connection to humans, electromagnetic chatter, and laser beams that curve

Midwesterners may have already seen the last of earthquakes in their region