The Battle of Brains vs. Brawn (Published 2017)

If you think hard and exercise intensely at the same time, your muscles’ performance will decline much more than your brain’s will, a new study found.

Looks Like Bird Dung. But It’s Really a Predatory Spider.

Many creatures use mimicry to hide from predators. This one also uses it to lure in prey.

This Rattlesnake Dares You to Call Its Bluff

Scientists designed a virtual reality experiment to understand just how tricky rattlesnakes can be.

Meet the Giraffe Weevil. It’s Got a Secret Up Its Long Snout.

The insect, found in New Zealand, has an evolutionary trick that supports its bizarre and elongated head.

When Insects Lost Their Homes, Evolution Clipped Their Wings

A study in New Zealand shows how man-made changes to an ecosystem can radically reshape the bodies of insect inhabitants.

This Flower Hides a Secret: It’s Actually a Carnivore

That this perennial wildflower digests trapped insects suggests that other plants’ appetites for animals may be overlooked.

A Plant That ‘Cannot Die’ Reveals Its Genetic Secrets

Events in the genome of Welwitschia have given it the ability to survive in an unforgiving desert for thousands of years.

Trash Parrots Invent New Skill in Australian Suburbs

Sydney’s clever and adaptable sulfur-crested cockatoos learn how to pry open garbage bins by watching one another.

Richard C. Lewontin, Eminent Geneticist With a Sharp Pen, Dies at 92

He demonstrated that differences in DNA between groups of people were far smaller than originally believed. He was also a noted opponent of aspects of sociobiology.

Shrinking Elephants Once Called Sicily Home

New research suggests that in as little as 40 generations, elephants could have become dwarf size on the island off Italy’s boot.

Discovery of ‘Dragon Man’ Skull in China May Add Species to Human Family Tree

A laborer discovered the fossil and hid it in a well for 85 years. Scientists say it could help sort out the human family tree and how our species emerged.