
A Strange Creature Discards Genes to Make a Better Heart
The sea squirt relative demonstrates that sometimes less is more: losing genes can be adaptive

A Strange Creature Discards Genes to Make a Better Heart
The sea squirt relative demonstrates that sometimes less is more: losing genes can be adaptive

Rockshelter Discoveries Show Neandertals Were a Lot like Us
Our much maligned cousins made sophisticated ornaments and probably had language


Junk DNA Deforms Salamander Bodies
Yet the unfit creatures survive, challenging our long-held view of evolution

Fossils Reveal When Animals Started Making Noise
For billions of years Earth was quiet. Then life got loud

Fish Do the Wave to Ward Off Predatory Birds
The synchronized dance of sulfur mollies is not only mesmerizing to watch but also confusing to predators

New Clues about the Origins of Biological Intelligence
A common solution is emerging in two different fields: developmental biology and neuroscience

Humans Are Doomed to Go Extinct
Habitat degradation, low genetic variation and declining fertility are setting Homo sapiens up for collapse

Redo of a Famous Experiment on the Origins of Life Reveals Critical Detail Missed for Decades
The Miller-Urey experiment showed that the conditions of early Earth could be simulated in a glass flask. New research finds the flask itself played an underappreciated, though outsize, role.

Physical Activity Could Be an Evolutionary Adaptation for Grandparenting
It may force energy shifts to repair and maintenance, which could slow aging and make us more available to care for younger generations

Sponge Cells Hint at Origins of Nervous System
Synapse genes help cells to communicate in a sponge’s digestive chambers

The Surprising Secret of Snakes’ Venomous Bites
Fangs evolved over and over because of this groovy process

Night Flights Are No Sweat for Tropical Bees
New research uses night vision to see how nocturnal bees navigate the dark.