Life science - Regulation and behavior

  • Testing touch
    Testing touch

    Why do women have better sense of touch? It’s all in the size, and big isn’t better…


    Thursday, December 17th, 2009
  • Imitation: Better than flattery?
    Imitation: Better than flattery?

    Imitation is a social glue in human society. We like people who imitate us. We call them friend. We will even tip them better! A new study finds similar responses in monkeys…


    Thursday, August 13th, 2009
  • The gray moth is on bark.  Its wings have a border that is alternately red or yellow.
    Animal arms race

    The struggle between predator and prey never ends. Bats invented sonar, and now some moths are fighting back. Check out the Why Files acoustic-organic warfare, airborne edition.


    Thursday, July 16th, 2009
  • The fly's face is dull gold.
    How a fly detects a poison

    Animals spend a lot of energy avoiding toxic chemicals in their food. A new type of gene that does this in fruit flies reinforces the importance of reproduction in shaping evolution.


    Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
  • Micro eye movements
    Micro eye movements

    You can’t hold your eyes completely still, but what is the purpose of those tiny movements? A new study could explain why we make them — and why we seldom notice them.


    Thursday, February 12th, 2009
  • Life of the locust: Biblical plague explained
    Life of the locust: Biblical plague explained

    Locusts live a solitary life — until their bodies suddenly change, and they swarm into clouds of destructive insects. A new study fingers the trigger for this transformation.


    Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
  • Assembly-lines don’t work for ants!

    Specialization may work in factories, but it does not make ant colonies more efficient. As the conventional wisdom about social insects goes topsy-turvy, what’s an ecologist to think?


    Thursday, November 27th, 2008
  • Song of the crocodile

    How does momma croc know when to dig up the young? How do the embryos know when to start hatching? The secret’s in the song…


    Thursday, June 26th, 2008
  • Alcohol: Molecule curbs drinking among rats; are humans next?

    Injecting a protein in the brain stifles the drive to drink among lab rats; one dose lasts three hours or more. Does GDNF offer a new angle on alcoholism?


    Thursday, June 12th, 2008
  • Learning to read mouse pee

    Mice can tell the sex, mating status and identity of another mouse — all from sniffing urine. A new study of how mice read pheromones also gives insight into the human sensory apparatus…


    Thursday, May 1st, 2008


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