Subliminal Distractions
The most insidious distractions may be the ones we're not aware of.
Podcast
Headbanging termites, why we eat salmon before--and not after--they spawn, a "smart bomb" for dental plaque, an ancient Greek sky calculator, and how your first language affects your sense of rhythm.
Toilet Roundup
The United Nations wants the world to engage in some serious toilet talk. Here's why.
Podcast
Something unexpected at the North Pole, World Toilet Day and other toilet news, why golf balls have dimples but racecars don't, how a father's pheromones may control his daughter's growth, and using satellites for archaeology in Egypt.
Father Pheromones
Fathers may emit pheromones that keep their daughters young.
Podcast
Your birthday greetings to us, hopeful news about malaria in Africa, robots that can recover from injury, news about Neanderthals, the truth about lie detectors, and money brings out the best and the worst in us.
Inheriting Expressions
New evidence suggests we may inherit our facial expressions from our parents.
Louse Bustin’
Lice are unlikely to evolve resistence to a new technology for exterminating them.
Podcast
How wool is made washable, the earliest horse corral, a parasite that prefers baby boys, a medical robot snail, and how solar flares can affect GPS.
Boy-Friendly Parasite
A latent parasitic infection may make a pregnant woman much more likely to have a boy.
Podcast
Kids on caffeine, prairie dogs in love, trading shoelace tags for gold in 15th century Cuba, how aspirin shrinks tumors, and a boy who can play video games with his mind.
Kids and Caffeine
Could kids suffer from caffeine withdrawal, just like adults?
PCBs and Vaccines
A common environmental pollutant may stifle the effectiveness of childhood vaccines.
Feeling Machine
A new computer program addresses teenage girls' emotional needs
Drool Stress Test
If the blood-curdling cry's not enough to tell you that your baby's stressed out, you might want to check the tyke's drool.
Food Security Roundup
In many societies, being overweight is a sign of affluence. But in the United States, it's more common for poor people to be overweight. Why?
Podcast
How to end offensive sports chants, a coal-based jet fuel, how a love hormone softens marital spats, why poor people are more likely to be obese, and a fossil ancestor of modern birds.
Offensive Chants
Scientists are developing new ways to keep sports fans from getting out of hand.
Podcast
Music could help treat Parkinson's, new ways to probe for underground bacteria, a handy test for caffeine, stress in pregnancy may be good, and an explanation for how Ritalin works.
Pregnancy Stress
If being pregnant in today's fast-paced world is enough to stress you out, take heart. It may be a good thing.
Kissing Roundup
We've all heard that laughter is the best medicine. But it turns out kissing may give it some competition.
Podcast
Dolphins have names, birds keep tabs on their rivals, public health workers may not show during a pandemic, kissing cures hayfever, and a special report on a fish library that's getting a high-tech makeover.