Nala Rogers

In a handful of animals, tumors can be transmitted like infectious diseases or parasites, defying science’s tidy definitions

Turrets and tunnels and carbon dioxide — oh my! These ants farm, but they are also master builders.

Computer modeling finds the most promising compounds and guides their transformation into drugs.

Where city dwellers see rectangles, people who live in round huts see circles

19 Mar 2025

Of the 20,000+ human genes, none has greater influence on late-onset Alzheimer’s disease than APOE. But why do certain variants of this lipid transporter protect the brain, while others endanger it? A suite of experiments published in the November 7…

The insect flutters her antennae to taste the egg mass beneath her, movements stuttering like stop-motion animation. She resembles a little black ant, but the scientists gathered around her know better. She is an Anastatus orientalis wasp, our…

Some flowers may be using their pollinators as sexual battlegrounds. Red, Brazilian flowers called Hypenea macrantha use projectile blasts of pollen to knock rival pollen off of hummingbirds’ beaks and replace it with their own, researchers report in…

Support sound science and smart stories Help us make scientific knowledge accessible to allDonate today If you puncture the ovary of a wasp called Microplitis demolitor, viruses squirt out in vast quantities, shimmering like iridescent blue…

Feature for Capsule Magazine, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy

Dogs and people with Williams syndrome may both owe their sociable personalities to changes in the same genes. (Inside Science) -- When it comes to sheer friendliness, few humans can match the average dog. But people with Williams syndrome may come…

Bioluminescent protozoans and old drugs might help unravel kissing bug disease

(Inside Science) — The first time Paul Krausman jumped out of a helicopter and wrestled a deer to the ground was in 1978. Another researcher had shot a net over the deer moments before, but the animal was not sedated, and it fought hard until…

Plants may recruit defenders by bribing them with other plants' pollen. (Inside Science) -- With its gently domed shape and fuzzy, rounded leaves, the plant known as turkey mullein doesn't look like a Machiavellian schemer. But those fuzzy hairs may…

Scientists are braving Arctic winters to study carbon frozen in soil. They keep finding surprises -- all of them bad. (Inside Science) -- It was dusk when Nikita Zimov limped to the icy riverbank and its lifesaving supply of driftwood. He had pushed…

(Inside Science) — Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that Valentine’s Day falls at a chilly time of year. In biological terms, social drives like love may be bound up with the need to keep warm. The same hormone, oxytocin, helps regulate both physical…

Inside Science) — A molecule that triggers inflammation may send cells into a panic-like state, prompting them to rush decisions about when to commit suicide, according to new research. This could help quell viral infection by ensuring infected cells…

Some male animals may evolve weak immune responses so they can give their mates diseases. (Inside Science) -- In the battle of the sexes, sexually transmitted diseases may sometimes be a weapon that males use to win. That’s the conclusion of a new…

David Hackam spends much of his work day at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center removing blackened sections of dead intestine from sick babies. But someday the pediatric surgeon may have a way to restore ravaged intestines—thanks to his work growing…