Evolution
Tiny Plants That Once Ruled the Seas
Around 250 million years ago animals in the seas began to diversify with gusto. Remarkably, the evolution of minute plants known as phytoplankton probably powered that dramatic explosion...
Evolutionary Biology1968 articles archived since 1845
Biology
Moth Smashes Ultrasound Hearing Records
These insects can sense higher pitches than any other known species
Environment
400 PPM: What's Next for a Warming Planet
Concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have reached this level for the first time in millions of years. What does this portend?
Biology
Cicadas Swarming U.S. East Coast Are Climate Change Veterans
But speedier human-caused global warming may prove a challenge
Evolution
All in the Family
New evidence shows that a controversial fossil may be the oldest human ancestor
Evolution
Did Asteroid Impacts Spark Life's "Left-Handed" Molecules?
The mysterious bias of life on Earth toward molecules that skew one way and not the other could be due to how light shines in star- and planet-forming clouds, researchers say
Biology
Voices Considered Attractive Send Body Cues
Volunteer listeners expressed preferences for voice qualities that ordinarily correlate with specific body dimensions. Sophie Bushwick reports
The Sciences
Zooniverse: Notes from Nature
Help make information about natural history collections available via the Internet
Evolution
DNA at 60: Still Much to Learn
On the diamond jubilee of the double helix, we should admit that we don't fully understand how evolution works at the molecular level
Biology
How Eerie Sea-Ice "Brinicles" Form
When salt-rich water leaks out of sea ice, it sinks into the sea and can occasionally create an eerie finger of ice called a brinicle. New research explains how these strange fingers of ice form and how the salty water within sea ice could have been a prime environment in which life may have evolved...
Evolution
Sex with Other Human Species Might Have Been Secret of Homo Sapiens’s Success
DNA analyses find that early Homo sapiens mated with other human species and hint that such interbreeding played a key role in the triumph of our kind
Biology
The Invention of Childhood, or Why It Hurts to Have a Baby [Excerpt]
At least 27 human species have walked the Earth, but only our lineage survived. Our ancestors may have crossed a cerebral Rubicon that led to babies being born “early”
Finding My Inner Neandertal
Consumer genetic-testing companies report how much of one's DNA comes from archaic human species, but what do the results really mean?
Biology
'Coelacanth' Genome Unlocked
The genes of this fish, sometimes called a living fossil, reveal much about the origins of tetrapods, the evolutionary line that gave rise to amphibians, birds and mammals
The Sciences
Fly Cells Divide by the Clock
Circadian rhythms may influence the timing of cell division, which could inform the timing of some therapies. Christopher Intagliata reports
Evolution
Can Evolution Beat Climate Change?
The purple sea urchin may be able to evolve to cope with ocean acidification, but that does not mean other species will be able to mimic the trick
Biology
Recommended: Adrenaline
Books and recommendations from Scientific American
Evolution
Bigger Not Always Better for Penis Size [Video]
A new study reveals diminishing returns in the attractiveness to females of larger-than-average genitalia
Biology
Start Talking: Synthetic Biology and Conservation Biology Meet, Part 2
Conservation biologist Kent Redford talks about the issues facing the intersection of synthetic biology and conservation biology and a conference that starts April 9th called "How will synthetic biology and conservation shape the future of nature?"...
Biology
Start Talking: Synthetic Biology and Conservation Biology Meet, Part 1
Conservation biologist Kent Redford talks about the issues facing the intersection of synthetic biology and conservation biology and a conference that starts April 9th called "How will synthetic biology and conservation shape the future of nature?"...
