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Biology
Technology, shifting rules, and human ambition push athletes beyond biology’s perceived limits.
The “dystopian” biotech imagined in these novels is now changing real lives for the better.
A big open question in 21st-century science is how life began here on Earth. The metabolism-first scenario just might be the best one.
7mins
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We tend to trust our intuitions about consciousness because they feel immediate and personal, but feeling convinced is not the same as being right. Annaka Harris explores what happens when […]
The whole isn't greater than the sum of its parts; that's a flaw in our thinking. Non-reductionism requires magic, not merely science.
3mins
Biologist Tyler Volk PhD, psychiatrist Bruce Greyson MD, and palliative care physician BJ Miller MD, reveal how confronting mortality can improve the way we live.
Unlikely Collaborators
Our Earthbound definitions of life could leave us blind to the Universe’s strangest forms.
19mins
“So many things could have happened in a different way that we wouldn't be here at all, both individually, for sure, and certainly as a species.”
2mins
We may be close to finding life beyond Earth. But would we even recognize it if we did? Astrobiologist Betül Kaçar explains what signs NASA is looking for.
6mins
These microbes endured the unlivable. The NASA astrobiologist who studies them reveals what that means for us today
43mins
"If we're related to every living thing on the planet, do we not have a special responsibility for every living thing on this planet? They are really all our relatives."
What happens when scientists "write what they know"? Some amazing science fiction stories.
“We can build AI scientists that are better than we are… these systems can be superhuman,” says the FutureHouse co-founder.
Could studying the Oriental hornet lead to a treatment for people with alcohol use disorder?
Whether your hair is straight, wavy, curly, or kinky isn't just genetic in nature. It depends on the physics of your hair's very atoms.
3mins
How do scientists measure and define life in the natural world? Dr. Lee Cronin gives us a definition, in 4 minutes:
So far, Earth is the only planet that we're certain possesses active life processes. Here's what we shouldn't assume about life elsewhere.
7mins
“The physics of the universe doesn't predict the emergence of biology.” Glasgow chemist Lee Cronin explains how inanimate matter becomes evolutionary:
Cats twist and snakes slide, exploiting and negotiating physical laws. Scientists are figuring out how.
A long view of biological survival might point us to new possibilities for finding life elsewhere in the Universe.
An excerpt from renowned neuropsychologist Nicholas Humphrey’s book “Sentience: The Invention of Consciousness.”
CRISPR study helps answer a question that has long puzzled scientists.
Here's the case for why science can't keep ignoring human experience.
We don’t yet know if these strange “obelisks” are helpful or harmful.
The answer is set to change in the year 2113, a recent estimate suggests.
The pattern 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc., is the Fibonacci sequence. It shows up all over nature. But what's the full explanation behind it?
Earth wasn't created until more than 9 billion years after the Big Bang. In some lucky places, life could have arisen almost right away.
Stem cells from a fetus can live within the mother for decades — and help her heal.
A new study provides the first proof-of-principle that genetic material transferred from one species to another can increase both longevity and healthspan in the recipient animal.
Inside the “out there” quest for a drug that would help doctors save lives before it’s too late.