Biology

How does experience alter our perceptions? This adapted book excerpt from We Know It When We See It describes how the brain’s visual system rewires itself to make the best use of its neural resources.

We give our genes and our environment all the credit for making us who we are. But random noise during development might be just as important.

The neurogenetics pioneer Cori Bargmann speaks with host Steven Strogatz about why a transparent worm became her favorite animal and how a genetic discovery she made inspired a revolutionary cancer treatment.

To combat resistant bacteria and refill the trickling antibiotic pipeline, scientists are getting help from deep learning networks.

Recent findings add weight to the evidence that the intransitive competitions between species enrich the diversity of nature.

Zoonotic diseases like influenza and many coronaviruses start out in animals, but their biological machinery often enables them to jump to humans.

Faced with a decision, the brain weighs its options by bundling them into rapidly alternating cycles of brain waves.

The mathematical biologist Corina Tarnita explains to host Steven Strogatz how quantitative modeling solved the mystery of fairy circles.

For decades, scientists have been intrigued by tiny viruses whose genetic material can be read both forward and backward. New research begins to explain this puzzling property.