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Researchers Tap a Sleep Switch in the Brain

February 14, 2017

Powerful new experiments have uncovered some of the molecular underpinnings of sleep.

How Life Turns Asymmetric

January 31, 2017

Scientists are uncovering how our bodies — and everything within them — tell right from left.

How Life (and Death) Spring From Disorder

January 26, 2017

Life was long thought to obey its own set of rules. But as simple systems show signs of lifelike behavior, scientists are arguing about whether this apparent complexity is all a consequence of thermodynamics.

How Viruses May Have Led to Complex Life

January 24, 2017

Without viruses, we might never have evolved.

Droplets That ‘Come to Life’

January 20, 2017

Life might have originated in droplets that behave surprisingly like living cells.

Dividing Droplets Could Explain Life’s Origin

January 19, 2017

Researchers have discovered that simple “chemically active” droplets grow to the size of cells and spontaneously divide, suggesting they might have evolved into the first living cells.

The Shape-Shifting Army Inside Your Cells

January 18, 2017

Proteins work like rigid keys to activate cellular functions — or so everyone thought. Scientists are discovering a huge number of proteins that shape-shift to do their work, upending a century-old maxim of biology.

Infant Brains Reveal How the Mind Gets Built

January 10, 2017

Is the brain a blank slate, or is it wired from birth to understand the world?

Q&A

Finding the Actions That Alter Evolution

January 5, 2017

The biologist Marcus Feldman creates mathematical models that reveal how cultural traditions can affect the evolution of a species.

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