6-24-14 Butterflies use magnetic compass to fly across America
Butterflies use magnetic compass to fly across America
The monarch butterfly uses a magnetic compass to guide its extraordinary migration thousands of miles across North America, scientists say.

6-19-14 Sunbathing may boost endorphins in the body and brain
Sunbathing may boost endorphins in the body and brain
When bronzed sun worshippers bask on the beach they may get more than a tan. Ultraviolet light causes mice to churn out an opiate-like molecule, scientists report in the June 19 Cell. This feel-good molecule, called beta-endorphin, may explain why some people seem addicted to tanning.

6-19-14 Skulls reveal Neandertal's hodge-podge genealogy
Skulls reveal Neandertal's hodge-podge genealogy
The Neandertal branch of the hominid family tree just got a lot more shrublike. Ancient skulls from a desolate Spanish cave have a hodge-podge of Neandertal and non-Neandertal features, suggesting the species underwent a long period of evolutionary fits and starts before emerging as full-fledged Neandertals some 200,000 years ago

6-18-14 Iceland's DNA: The world's most precious genes?
Iceland's DNA: The world's most precious genes?
Iceland's record of low immigration and its genealogical records going back 1,000 years make it a paradise for geneticists. A third or more of the population has already donated a DNA sample - but a new push to increase that figure is meeting some resistance.

6-12-14 Crayfish may experience form of anxiety
Crayfish may experience form of anxiety
Crustaceans may be able to experience some emotions, a study published in the journal Science suggests.

6-9-14 Male faces 'buttressed against punches' by evolution
Male faces 'buttressed against punches' by evolution
A new theory suggests that our male ancestors evolved beefy facial features as a defence against fist fights.

5-29-14 Crickets in two places fall silent to survive
Crickets in two places fall silent to survive
To hide themselves from deadly flies, crickets on two Hawaiian islands have evolved an inability to sing.

5-28-14 Wasp uses zinc-tipped drill to lay eggs
Wasp uses zinc-tipped drill to lay eggs
Footage captured by scientists has revealed the power of a parasitic wasp, which has evolved a zinc-tipped drill to bore into fruit.

5-21-14 Mice Run on Exercise Wheels For Fun
Mice Run on Exercise Wheels For Fun
To get mice moving in the laboratory, scientists studying the effects of exercise often put them on a wheel. But researchers have long wondered-do mice naturally have the urge to run in the wheel, or is it a neurotic response to being in captivity? If it's the latter, the results of mouse-based exercise studies could be skewed.

5-20-14 Spouses Tend To Have Similar DNA
Spouses Tend To Have Similar DNA
What attracted you to your spouse? His eyes? Her laugh? Does he quote Tolkien in her sleep, just like you? Did you meet at your microbiology club in college? What if one level of similarity and attraction went deeper than that, say, down to the cellular level?

5-14-14 How your ancestors' farms shaped your thinking
How your ancestors' farms shaped your thinking
IT'S a cliché to say that East Asians think in terms of the group, while Westerners think in terms of the individual. But there is truth to it, and the explanation may lie in what our ancestors ate.

5-7-14 Only known chimp war reveals how societies splinter
Only known chimp war reveals how societies splinter
PICTURE the scene: a weak leader is struggling to hold onto power as ambitious upstarts plot to take over. As tensions rise, the community splits and the killing begins. The war will last for years.

5-7-14 Antibiotic-resistant superbugs now a global epidemic
Antibiotic-resistant superbugs now a global epidemic
SUPERBUGS that resist antibiotics are now widespread around the planet. So concludes the first global review of antibiotic resistance.

5-1-14 Degrees of Separation
Degrees of Separation
Obviously evolution at work, but why did this difference evolve?
The old saying "cold hands, warm heart" may have some truth to it. University of Utah researchers found that though women's core body temperature can run 0.4^oF higher than men's, women's hands run 2.8^oF colder - 87.2^oF on average, compared with 90^oF for men.

4-30-14 Scent of a man: Male sweat stresses out lab mice
Scent of a man: Male sweat stresses out lab mice
UH-OH. Lab rats and mice get more stressed out by male researchers than by females. The finding could mean that thousands of behavioral experiments have overlooked an important factor affecting their results

4-16-14 Beard trend is 'guided by evolution'
Beard trend is 'guided by evolution'
The ebb and flow of men's beard fashions may be guided by Darwinian selection, according to a new study.

3-28-14 Truth or lie - trust your instinct, says research
Truth or lie - trust your instinct, says research
When it comes to detecting lies, you should trust your instinct, research suggests.

3-27-14 Scientists hail synthetic chromosome advance
Scientists hail synthetic chromosome advance
Scientists have created the first synthetic chromosome for yeast in a landmark for biological engineering.

3-26-14 Chemistry of love: Using pheromones to find your match
Chemistry of love: Using pheromones to find your match
It is evening at Stories, a bar in east London, and here men and women are huddled around a table full of plastic bags stuffed with t-shirts.

3-20-14 Nose can detect one trillion odors
Nose can detect one trillion odours
The human nose can detect one trillion different odors, far more than we previously thought, say US scientists.

3-17-14 Frozen Antarctic moss brought back to life after 1,500 years
Frozen Antarctic moss brought back to life after 1,500 years
British scientists have successfully revived mosses that have been frozen under the Antarctic ice for 1,500 years.

3-12-14 New fossil species supports early origin of echolocation in toothed whales
New fossil species supports early origin of echolocation in toothed whales
Research led by an anatomy professor at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine indicates that echolocation - the sonar-like system based on high-frequency vocalizations and their echoes - was present in a 28-million-year old relative of modern-day toothed whales, dolphins, and porpoises.

3-8-14 Neanderthal hot spots highlighted in modern humans' DNA
Neandertal hot spots highlighted in modern humans' DNA
Humans appear to have inherited some traits related to skin, hair and some autoimmune diseases from Neanderthal ancestors.

3-8-14 Neanderthal hot spots highlighted in modern humans' DNA
Neandertal hot spots highlighted in modern humans' DNA
Stone Age people's mating with now-extinct species had genetic pros and cons

3-5-14 Biggest-ever virus revived from Stone Age permafrost
Biggest-ever virus revived from Stone Age permafrost
AS IF there weren't enough problems with thawing tundra. A virus of unprecedented size has been reactivated after being isolated from Russian permafrost 30,000 years old.

3-3-14 30,000-year-old giant virus 'comes back to life'
30,000-year-old giant virus 'comes back to life'
An ancient virus has "come back to life" after lying dormant for at least 30,000 years, scientists say.

3-1-14 Sharp thinking: How shaping tools built our brains
Sharp thinking: How shaping tools built our brains
How did we become the smartest creatures on Earth? The story of our ancestors' mental leaps can be found in stones - a modern-day flint-knapper is our guide.

2-22-14 Alien Pain
Alien Pain
Can a squid suffer? What about a prawn? The more we learn about these strange creatures, the more pressing such questions become, says Tamar Stelling

2-6-14 Temporary blindness 'boosts hearing'
Temporary blindness 'boosts hearing'
Temporary blindness heightens hearing and has potential as a therapy for some deaf people, animal research suggests.

2-4-14 Faster cyclists are more attractive, study says
Faster cyclists are more attractive, study says
Successful professional cyclists are seen as more handsome than their struggling colleagues, according to new research.

1-29-14 Neanderthal-human sex bred light skins and infertility
Neanderthal-human sex bred light skins and infertility
IT IS surprising what a little hanky-panky can do. A handful of sexual encounters between humans and Neanderthals made many of us what we are today, affecting both our appearance and our vulnerability to disease. But the genetic legacy left by the Neanderthals also highlights just how different we are from our sister species.

1-29-14 Neanderthals gave us disease genes
Neanderthals gave us disease genes
Gene types that influence disease in people today were picked up through interbreeding with Neanderthals, a major study in Nature journal suggests.

1-24-14 Pregnant mother's fatty diet 'may alter baby's brain'
Pregnant mother's fatty diet 'may alter baby's brain'
A high-fat diet during pregnancy has the potential to alter a baby's developing brain and increase its chances of obesity later in life, animal studies suggest.

1-11-14 Fear can be inherited
Fear can be inherited
Parents' and even grandparents' experiences echo in offspring

1-2-14 Dogs Have a Butt Compass, Poop Facing N/S Pole
Dogs Have a Butt Compass, Poop Facing N/S Pole
It's all starting to make sense. For years I wondered why my dog spins in a circle before depositing her daily double. But now I think I have a clue as to why. Scientists at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague have found that, like other animals, dogs are sensitive to Earth's magnetism.

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