Cancer Resistance
A small portion of the population may be especially resistant to cancer…could harnessing this ability lead to a simple and effective cancer therapy?
Mate Selection Roundup
When it comes to speed dating, women are choosier than men.
Podcast
Whale-inspired windmills. Tracing the origins of a killer asteroid. Using vowels to sell. And more.
Plant Gravity
A listener asks: Regardless of how you plant a seed, the roots always grow downward and the shoots upward, so how does the plant orient itself?
Whale Energy
The shape of humpback whale flippers could make wind energy more efficient.
Fossil Roundup
Fossils from Mongolia reveal that velociraptors had feathers.
Podcast
The mosquito's exquisite sense of smell. How genes affect our odor perception. The cognitive skills of apes and toddlers. New analysis of old fossils leads to surprising discoveries. And how forensic scientists get DNA from blood.
Apes vs. Toddlers
Although equivalent in many intellectual tasks, human toddlers are much better than apes in social thinking.
Smelly Genes
New genetic evidence explains why each person perceives odors differently.
Podcast
Ice that won't melt. Finches driven to cheat. How music effects the brain. Increased carbon dioxide produces super weeds.
HPV and cancer in men.
Podcast
Why the flu strikes in winter. The genetic code of one species found inside another's. Salamanders that are too fat to be eaten by predators. Why some of us have perfect pitch and others fall flat. And the effects of pastries on blood sugar.
Fat Salamanders
Some salamander larvae eat more so they won't fit in predators' mouths.
Jumping Genomes
An entire bacterial genome found spliced into the DNA of a fly changes the way we think about evolution.
Podcast
Counting underwater volcanoes. A new source of antibiotics. Which trees are better at fighting global warming. The power of repeating yourself. And crows that use tools to get food. video
Crow Tools
Crows use tools and higher order reasoning to solve a challenging puzzle.
Podcast
A computer with a sense of humor. Frisky foxes. Giant insects of the ancient earth. And more.
Fox Sex
Scientists used to think arctic foxes were monogamous, but new research reveals a different mating strategy may be advantageous.
Human Traits Roundup
Scientists gain insights into two essentially human traits: walking and talking.
Podcast
Dinosaurs and their rivals, a computer that solves checkers, the placebo effect and the brain, keeping fruits and vegetables fresh, and the evolution of walking and talking.
Placebo Effect
Scientists look to the brain to find out why some people respond better to the placebo effect than others.
Dinosaur Takeover
New evidence sheds light on the dinosaurs' rise to power.
Podcast
Sparrows that prefer up-to-date songs, glaciers and global warming, upwardly mobile robots, bacteria to combat oil spills, and how self-tanners work.