While questions still outnumber answers, new findings from archaeology, genetics, and other disciplines are revealing surprising insights into the early cultures of the most recently populated continent.

A handful of factors tip the scales in making a virus more likely to trigger a disruptive global outbreak. Right now, scientists tend to rank influenza, coronaviruses, and Nipah virus as the biggest threats.

Rats and equations help researchers develop a theory of how our brains keep track of when events took place.

Strategies to make lab animals forget, remember, or experience false recollections probe how memory works, and may inspire treatments for neurological diseases.

Studies point to a role for physical activity in fighting malignancies, improving treatment outcomes, and fostering overall health in patients.

It’s now clear that gene transcripts can be constructed in various ways, yet many questions remain about the process.

Scientists are using social media to track diseases and understand how people respond to them.

Extracellular webs expelled by neutrophils trap invading pathogens, but these newly discovered structures also have ties to autoimmunity and cancer.

From making ribosomes to protecting the integrity of the genome, these membraneless compartments play important roles in the cell. Their behavior is rooted in basic physics.

From journeys into mines to explorations of volcanoes on the ocean floor, deep voyages reveal the richness of the planet’s deep biosphere.

Hanging in front of the abdomen like an apron, the depot of visceral fat known as the omentum helps regulate immune responses.

The loss of darkness can harm individual organisms and perturb interspecies interactions, potentially causing lasting damage to life on our planet.

Just 20 years ago, scientists didn’t even realize muscles had their own circadian clocks. Now they are beginning to appreciate their importance in health. 

Researchers untangle the multifarious nature of muscle aging. So far, the only reliable treatment is exercise.

Scientists race to develop CRISPR therapies that could save the lives of kids with muscle-wasting conditions.

As robust efforts fail to reproduce findings of influential zebra finch studies from the 1980s, scientists discuss ways to reduce bias in such research.

Inserting human “mini-brains” into rodents has the potential to broaden scientists’ understanding of neurological disease, but raises quandaries about consciousness.

The gene-editing technology is already in trials for some rare conditions, with more human testing on the horizon.

Assessments of species vulnerability provide crucial information for conservation efforts. But the science behind them is still evolving.