Ancient DNA unveils Siberian Neandertals’ small-scale social lives

DNA from a group of Neandertals who lived together and a couple of others who lived not far away has yielded the best genetic peek to date into the social…

Black Death immunity came at a cost to modern-day health

A genetic variant that appears to have boosted medieval Europeans’ ability to survive the Black Death centuries ago may contribute — albeit in a small way — to an inflammatory…

Honeybees order numbers from left to right, a study claims

Like many humans, honeybees seem to prefer their numbers ordered from left to right. Honeybees trained to recognize a specific number tend to fly left when given two side-by-side options…

Some seabirds survive typhoons by flying into them

Some seabirds don’t just survive storms. They ride them. Streaked shearwaters nesting on islands off Japan sometimes head straight toward passing typhoons, where they fly near the eye of the…

This ancient worm might be an important evolutionary missing link

An ancient, armored worm may be the key to unraveling the evolutionary history of a diverse collection of marine invertebrates. Discovered in China, a roughly 520-million-year-old fossil of the newly…

Yes, You Can Create a Native Plant Garden!

Have you always wanted to start a native plant garden, but don’t know where to start? It can seem daunting to figure out which plant is suited for the right…

Dinosaur ‘mummies’ may not be rare flukes after all

It might be easier for dinosaurs to “mummify” than scientists thought. Unhealed bite marks on fossilized dinosaur skin suggest that the animal’s carcass was scavenged before being covered in sediment,…

Clumps of human nerve cells thrived in rat brains

To coax human nerve cells in a laboratory to thrive, there are three magic words: location, location, location. Many experiments grow human nerve cells in lab dishes. But a new…

Cooperative sperm outrun loners in the mating race

Even sperm gotta stick together. Bull sperm swim more effectively when in clusters, a new study shows, potentially offering insight into fertility in humans. In simulated reproductive tracts of animals…

Why traumatic brain injuries raise the risk of a second, worse hit

In a football game on September 25, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa got the pass off but he got knocked down. Fans watched him shake his head and stumble to…