Biology

Researchers are racing to understand how the Zika virus causes birth defects. Their first results have revealed tantalizing clues about how the virus interferes with the developing brain — and how it might be stopped.

A newly discovered anole on the island of Hispaniola confirms that the buildup of ecological communities can follow predictable patterns.

The neuroscientist Sheena Josselyn can evoke and erase memories in mice using new tools that precisely control the brain.

Metal-eating microbes get energy from rocks and could teach us about life on other worlds — but first scientists had to learn how to grow them in the lab.

Scientists have figured out how microbes can suck energy from rocks. Such lifeforms might be more widespread than anyone anticipated.

Figuring out how these molecules form in the deep recesses of interstellar space might illuminate the origins of one of life’s distinguishing features.

How interbreeding among early hominins harmed humans but may have slowed the Neanderthals’ decline.

Neanderthals and Denisovans may have endowed modern humans with genetic variants that helped them thrive in new environments.

A specific set of neurons deep in the brain may motivate us to seek company, holding social species together.