The DNA Helix Changed How We Thought About Ourselves

“The laws of inheritance are quite unknown,” Charles Darwin acknowledged in 1859. The discovery of DNA’s shape altered how we conceived of life itself.

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Riddle Me This, Riddle Me That: Who Can Explain the Glowing Green Bats?

Six species of North American bats emit a glow at almost identical wavelengths, according to a recent study.

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How Psychedelic Mushrooms Evolved Their Magic

Two distantly related groups of mushrooms take radically different routes to producing psilocybin, a mind-bending molecule.

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How Did Hands Evolve? Look to Your Anus, a New Study Suggests.

The evolutionary blueprint for hands was borrowed in part from a much older genetic plan for our nether regions, a new study suggests.

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Uncovering the Genes That Let Our Ancestors Walk Upright

A new study reveals some of the crucial molecular steps on the path to bipedalism.

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Meet the Beautiful Dragonfly That Thrives in Your Pollution

New research outlines how the savvy blue dasher lives happily in storm drains and park ponds others flee.

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What’s a Potato? A Nine-Million-Year-Old Tomato

An ancient hybrid of tomatoes and potato-like plants may have given rise to the modern spud, a new study suggests.

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A Century Ago, Adolescents Weren’t Fully Human

Looking back at an awkward moment in the history of adolescent psychology.

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This Brazilian Velvet Ant Is So Dark That It’s Super-Black

Scientists found that the dark markings on a species of fluffy wasp reflected less than 1 percent of light.

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