Eyes Blink in Time With Music, Revealing Hidden Brain Rhythms

Summary: New research shows that spontaneous eye blinks naturally sync to the beat of music, revealing a hidden form of auditory-motor synchronization that occurs even without conscious movement. In more…

Quitting Impossible Goals May Actually Boost Wellbeing

Summary: A sweeping analysis of 235 studies shows that holding onto impossible goals harms mental and physical wellbeing, increasing stress and lowering life satisfaction. In contrast, releasing unachievable goals —…

A wolf raided a crab trap. Was it tool use or just canine cunning?

One damp spring evening last year, a wolf hauled a crab trap ashore off the central Pacific coast of British Columbia. The rangy animal made a delectable meal of the…

This parasitic ant tricks workers into committing matricide

Overtaking a throne sometimes takes a touch of matricide.  Some newly mated ant queens sneak into other ant colonies and spray their queens with a liquid that sends workers into a…

Genetic Roots of Depression Reveal Strong Suicide Risk Signals

Summary: New research shows that depression beginning before age 25 has a much stronger hereditary component than depression that emerges later in life. By analyzing genetic data from over 150,000…

40,000-year-old woolly mammoth RNA offers a peek into its last moments

Ancient RNA from Yuka, a 40,000-year-old woolly mammoth preserved in permafrost, can offer new biological insights into the Ice Age animal’s life.

Dr. Lori Neuman-Lee – Functional Ecologists

Dr. Lori Neuman-Lee, professor at Arkansas State University, discusses the story behind the cover for Volume 29, Issue 11 of Functional Ecology, published all the way back in 2015. Lori…

How science figured out how to contain peanut allergies

It turned out that the guidance parents and pediatricians … had been following, to avoid giving peanuts to babies and young children to try to prevent the development of dangerous…

Why Sharing Good Deeds Feels Bad

Summary: New research shows that people often feel worse when telling others about their good deeds than when keeping them private or discussing personal achievements. Across five studies, participants predicted…

No Evidence the Gut Microbiome Causes Autism

Summary: Experts reviewing decades of research conclude there is no scientific evidence that the gut microbiome causes autism. They highlight major flaws in observational studies, mouse experiments, and clinical trials,…