The flurry of frizzy-hair e-mails began in 2016. Human geneticist Regina Betz of University Hospital Bonn in Germany and her team had just linked three genes to a rare disorder…
Category: Life
Proposed Federal Wildfire Actions Threaten Environmental Protections
By Nick Jensen and Brendan Wilce Los Padres National Forest – Upper Fir Canyon and Hurricane Deck; Image: Bryant Baker/Los Padres ForestWatch California’s wildfire seasons are longer and more extreme…
Were ancient cities greener than modern ones?
*This is part of a series called ‘Thinking About Cities’ which are parts of a book I am working on about urban green space that I’ve decided to cut…
DNA reveals donkeys were domesticated 7,000 years ago in East Africa
From pulling Mesopotamian war chariots to grinding grain in the Middle Ages, donkeys have carried civilization on their backs for centuries. DNA has now revealed just how ancient humans’ relationship…
DNA reveals donkeys were domesticated 7,000 years ago in East Africa
From pulling Mesopotamian war chariots to grinding grain in the Middle Ages, donkeys have carried civilization on their backs for centuries. DNA has now revealed just how ancient humans’ relationship…
An AI can decode speech from brain activity with surprising accuracy
An artificial intelligence can decode words and sentences from brain activity with surprising — but still limited — accuracy. Using only a few seconds of brain activity data, the AI…
An AI can decode speech from brain activity with surprising accuracy
An artificial intelligence can decode words and sentences from brain activity with surprising — but still limited — accuracy. Using only a few seconds of brain activity data, the AI…
Living fast may have helped mammals like ‘ManBearPig’ dominate
In the wake of the dinosaurs’ demise, a bizarre beast that some researchers have nicknamed “ManBearPig” lived life in the fast lane. This sheep-sized mammal — which sported five-fingered hands,…
Living fast may have helped mammals like ‘ManBearPig’ dominate
In the wake of the dinosaurs’ demise, a bizarre beast that some researchers have nicknamed “ManBearPig” lived life in the fast lane. This sheep-sized mammal — which sported five-fingered hands,…
The worldwide water-lifting power of plants is enormous
When it comes to hoisting water, plants are real power lifters. For a tall tree, slurping hundreds of liters of water each day up to its leaves or needles, where…

