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A representation of a human head examining its experiences.
The Joy of Why

What Is the Nature of Consciousness?

By Steven Strogatz
May 31, 2023
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Consciousness, our experience of being in the world, is one of the mind’s greatest mysteries, but as the neuroscientist Anil Seth explains to Steven Strogatz, research is making progress in understanding this elusive phenomenon.

Underside of a skate embryo, stained in blue, on a salmon pink background.
evolution

How 3D Changes in the Genome Turned Sharks Into Skates

By Viviane Callier
May 30, 2023
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Changes in the 3D structure of their genome gave skates and rays their distinctive winglike fins and pancake flatness.

A person stares at a thought bubble.
cognition

Is It Real or Imagined? How Your Brain Tells the Difference.

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
May 24, 2023
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New experiments show that the brain distinguishes between perceived and imagined mental images by checking whether they cross a “reality threshold.”

An illustrated human figure with memories of a blue flower looks out at the world and is more attuned to seeing other blue flowers.
memory

Memories Help Brains Recognize New Events Worth Remembering

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
May 17, 2023
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Memories may affect how well the brain will learn about future events by shifting our perceptions of the world.

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Three “inquiline” social parasites of the clonal raider ant species, showing their queenlike wings on worker-size bodies, on a white background.
evolution

A Mutation Turned Ants Into Parasites in One Generation

By Viviane Callier
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A new genetics study of ant “social parasites” shows how complex sets of features can emerge rapidly and potentially split species.

smell

How a Human Smell Receptor Works Is Finally Revealed

By Wynne Parry
May 1, 2023
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After decades of frustration, researchers have determined how an airborne scent molecule links to a human smell receptor.

biodiversity

How Pools of Genetic Diversity Affect a Species’ Fate

By Anna Funk
April 25, 2023
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A new, deeper understanding of how the breeding structure of species affects their genetic diversity is giving conservationists better tools for saving animals.

Quantized Columns

Why the Brain’s Connections to the Body Are Crisscrossed

By R. Douglas Fields
April 19, 2023
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In all bilaterally symmetrical animals, from humans down to simple worms, nerves cross from one side of the body to the opposite side of the brain. Geometry may explain why.

Q&A

She Tracks the DNA of Elusive Species That Hide in Harsh Places

By Rachel Crowell
April 17, 2023
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On Mount Everest and in the Peruvian Andes, Tracie Seimon uses DNA to study how species and ecosystems respond to climate change, pathogens and other influences.


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