Biology

Mini-organs grow around the tiny scaffolds (lower left). The magnified image (right) shows the hair-thin channels that serve as blood vessels.

How a Tiny, "Beating" Human Heart Was Created in a Lab

The device, filled with human heart cells, could dramatically reduce the time it takes to test new drugs and end testing on animals

Scientists studied Hydra vulgaris to determine how the animal opens its mouth

How Hydra Rip Open New Mouths at Every Meal

Scientists finally figured out how the tiny aquatic creature opens its mouth to eat

This psychedelic form is actually a map of pathways inside a human brain. The different colors show the ways various parts of the brain communicate—left with right sides in red, front with back in green, and the brain to the rest of the body in blue.

Take in the Beauty of Science With This Year's Wellcome Image Award Winners

From winding brain pathways to sparkling moth scales, these evocative images both teach and amaze

Scientists keep finding new ways the brain can be deceived.

A New Way to Trick the Brain and Beat Jet Lag

For all its complexity, the human brain is not hard to deceive. Here are four studies where scientists have learned more about duping it

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Thousands of Blacktip Sharks Are Hanging Out on Florida’s Coast Right Now

Experts say they're not dangerous, and are easy to spot

The great pond snail is helping scientists make great leaps in their understanding of asymmetries in the animal kingdom.

Snail Shells Add a New Twist to the Mystery of Animal Asymmetries

After more than a century of searching, scientists have discovered a gene in snails that may control asymmetries inside many animals

A biocube is placed in Central Park's Hallett Nature Sanctuary in New York City.

You'd Be Astounded to Learn How Much Wildlife Can Fit Into One Cubic Foot

A whole new world opens up when you try to catalog every visible creature that moves in and out of a biocube set down on either land or in water

This Penguin on a Treadmill Shows How Waddles Work

Fat penguins have a harder time walking than swimming

Beluga whales blow bubbles.

Why Do Beluga Whales Blow Bubbles?

The animal’s whimsical pastime offers insight into the mammalian brain

Scientists used an an integrated tissue-organ printer, or ITOP, to create this ear.

Scientists Printed a Human Ear

The scientific breakthrough is more than a creepy experiment—one day, it could save lives

Slogans like the one on this propaganda poster for Mao Zedong, "Urgently Forge Ahead and Bravely Advance with Great Leader Chairman Mao,” take on a new smell now that it’s revealed that Stalin may have studied his poop.

Stalin May Have Studied Mao’s Poop in a Secret Lab

Get a whiff of this stranger-than-fiction story of political paranoia and Soviet science

Deep Earth creepy crawlies, mushrooms making rain, and a Maya city buried in ash are just a few highlights from this year's collection of science stories.

Cool Science Stories You May Have Missed in 2015

Quantum spookiness, a Maya city buried in ash and more in this year’s surprising science

How Do Hardworking Hummingbirds Keep Cool?

Special “windows” in the feathers covering their tiny bodies prevent overheating while hovering and flying

Researchers are developing voice-training apps specifically for the transgender population.

How Transgender Women Are Training Their Voices to Sound More Feminine

Does striving for some ideal female voice just reinforce stereotypes?

Programming organisms in the Ginkgo Bioworks Foundry

A Boston Biotech Company Is Engineering New Smells

A team at Ginkgo Bioworks is designing organisms that emit specific scents and flavors

Med School Students Can Play "Operation" With These Synthetic Cadavers

Florida company SynDaver is making life-like organs and bodies. But, as teaching models, are they as helpful as the real thing?

When You Sweat, Vents in These Clothes Automatically Open

Harnessing the power of bacteria, MIT researchers and New Balance have created breathable workout gear

Five Things We've Learned About Fear Since Last Halloween

Including why screams get our brain's attention and why a drop of "love hormone" in our nose could make us less fearful

The wandering pond snail may be small, but it is giving scientists insights into a rather lofty question: Why do we have personality?

What Extroverts and Introverts Can Learn From Snails

Genes may change a snail’s “personality” and the thickness of its skin (or rather, its shell)

The red-necked wallaby has a powerful nose, according to a new study.

Wallabies Can Sniff Out Danger in Poop

Like sommeliers of poop, the pint-sized marsupials can smell what species left it behind and what that creature last had for dinner

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