Cultural transmission makes animals flexible, but vulnerable
From monkeys washing potatoes to cockatoos raiding trash cans, socially spread behaviors allow creatures to adapt more rapidly to changing environments than conventional evolution would allow. But the…
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What if we tolerated diseases?
The immune cells that fight bacteria and viruses are well-known. But some scientists think we should devote more attention to a second prong of defense: one that allows our bodies to more harmlessly…
«“Bacteria, they like glucose,” says Soares. Therefore, the body often shuts down glucose production when it is infected, and infections often make animals lose their appetites. These twin actions limit the pathogen’s energy source and so help survival of the host.»
Evolution Didn’t Wire Us for Eight Hours of Sleep
Chimps sleep nine hours a night. Cotton-top tamarins sleep about 13. What happened to humans?
The science of a wandering mind
More than just a distraction, mind-wandering (and its cousin, daydreaming) may help us prepare for the future
«Is mind-wandering the same thing as daydreaming, or would you say those are different?»
There are more active volcanoes than you think
OPINION: Volcanologists warn that magma-filled vents evolve over time, leading to an underestimation of the number that might erupt — especially those capable of the biggest explosions
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