Stories by Emma Marris

From China to Brazil to Germany, huge numbers of people are addicted to shopping, driven in part by companies that use gaming strategies

Permian period petroleum helped to preserve minute scraps of pebbly hide that probably belonged to a lizardlike creature

More traditional land use and better data dissemination could help to prevent future tragedies

A clinical health psychologist talks about Barbie’s influence on how women and girls view their body

Microphones capture ultrasonic crackles from plants that are water-deprived or injured

The parasite Toxoplasma gondii can change the behavior of infected wolves in ways that make them more likely to be pack leaders

Cephalopods living unusually close together have been filmed throwing shells, algae and silt—sometimes at another octopus

Baboons, grizzly bears and other species are giving up their wild ways as cities, farms and roads fracture habitat

Critics say the organization is unduly secretive

Breaking from the general poleward movement of many species, flowering trees take an unexpected turn

US government proposes introducing wolves to Isle Royale as population dwindles

Researchers are reaching out to the U.S. president-elect with science advice—and criticism

Tools and bones add to evidence of pre-Clovis humans in America

An ancient alga developed large size and complex structure independently of other plants

Known group of 250 animals found to be genetically distinct from their island neighbors

The architecture of flash-frozen ant assemblages are offering inspiration for robot designers

Ecologist Simon Levin discusses his work, including the study of how cooperation is achieved in slime molds, bacterial films and small societies in nature

A monsoon hiatus that began 4,200 years ago parallels a dry spell that led to the collapse of bronze age civilizations in Egypt, Greece and Mesopotamia

Researchers calculate that the planet will leave the sun's "habitable" zone in about 1.75 billion years

Animals' brain-to-body size ratio predicts their likelihood of extinction, a new analysis finds

The science behind moving species under threat from climate change