Can our evolutionary roots explain that self-destructive search for sex – and sexual companionship? Could Darwinian psychology constitute the cause home-wrecking, career-blitzing fatal attractions?
Underground nuclear tests have been the biggest roadblock to a comprehensive test ban. How are these explosions detected, and how reliably?
Phony science - Thursday, June 4th, 2009
New study finds 2 percent of scientists admit faking data; 14 percent say colleagues have done it. Problems are most common in drug and other medical studies.
Swine flu - Thursday, May 14th, 2009
The epidemic fades, with 61 confirmed deaths and 5,251 cases so far. Were the public health warnings overdone? Or did they help stem the pandemic? Your guide to the time of finger-pointing, flu-style.
Scientists are proving that intestinal bacteria can help health — but for what conditions? Should you take probiotic supplements or eat foods with beneficial bugs? What does the science say — and not say?
Brain battle - Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
As the day wears on, both sleep pressure and the brain’s alerting signal rise, until sleep pressure triumphs. [Nod]. New brain study explains why night owls don’t get as sleepy during the day.
Mass killings - Thursday, April 16th, 2009
After another mass murder — 13 dead in Binghamton, N.Y. — The Why Files wants to know why they pull the trigger. What are the warning signs of “rampage” shootings? Can they be prevented?
Body odor - Thursday, April 9th, 2009
Study finds that male body odor is harder to mask, but the male nose is more easily confused. Info lends insight into human mating, and helps perfume makers. So what’s in your deodorant?
New video captures AIDS moving inside immune cells: HIV enters pods that form on the surface, then jumps across into a healthy immune cell that is now doomed to spread HIV — and die.
Last week, Pres. Obama revoked the limits on studies of cells that can become any body cell. What was lost in eight years of limits on embryonic stem cells? What’s ahead?
