Biology
How Gene Expression Runs on a Clock--and What It Means for Medical Treatments
How the body's cycles went from folk medicine to modern science
Stories by Veronique Greenwood
Fitness
How Bacteria May Help Regulate Blood Pressure
Smell receptors in kidneys sniff out signals from gut bacteria for cues to moderate blood pressure
Biology
Having This Gene May Make Some People Night Owls
Researchers have identified a mutation in some people who suffer from delayed sleep phase disorder, which interferes with their circadian clocks
Neuroscience
Can You Tell Someone's Emotional State from an MRI?
The quest to read emotions from brain scans
Behavior
Why Emotional Snap Judgments Are Often Wrong
When reading people's emotions, careful thinking may pay off
Cognition
Some People’s Brains Are Wired for Languages
Brain scans may offer clues to a person’s natural aptitude—and help those less gifted learn how to study better
Cognition
Learn a New Lingo While Doing Something Else
Hearing a foreign language in the background can help you learn it faster, even if you are not paying attention
Neuroscience
You Smell Sick: Detecting Illness by Scent
Scientists are racing to create tests that can identify illness via odors in patients’ sweat, breath and urine
Cognition
Are You Sure That's the Guy?
Asking eyewitnesses about their level of certainty improves the efficacy of police lineups
Mind & Brain
The Problem with Perfect Posture
Slouching may help us concentrate on a challenging task
Behavior
Still Waiting for That E-Mail?
A study of 16 billion e-mails reveals distinct patterns in our e-mail behavior
Medicine
Pharma Watch: A User's Guide to Sleeping Pills
A new pill adds to the choices but behavioral therapy can be a better option for some
Behavior
Confident Eyewitnesses Considered Credible
Eyewitness identification can give us valuable information—but only if done right
The Sciences
The Woman Who Stared at Wasps
The biologist Joan Strassmann discusses the evolution of cooperation, how amoebas can teach us about competition, and why the definition of “organism” needs an overhaul
Health
Networks Untangle Malaria's Deadly Shuffle
The world’s most dangerous malaria parasite shuffles its genes in a clever attempt to avoid the immune system. A new approach has begun to reveal how the process works
Health
Newly Discovered Networks among Different Diseases Reveal Hidden Connections
Enormous databases of medical records have begun to reveal connections among diseases that could provide insights into the biological missteps that make us sick
Evolution
Blind Cave Fish Could Change Our Understanding of Evolution
A protein may have eased a fish's transition from rivers to caves
Health
Taste-Blind Mice Make Tangled Sperm
Mice missing certain sensory genes wind up with busted gametes
Health
Why Are Asthma Rates Soaring?
Researchers once blamed a cleaner world. Now they are not so sure
Health
Curing the Common Cold
Be careful what you wish for. The remedies may be far worse than the illness
