Surprising Science

The protein fiber that spiders spin to make their webs is stronger than almost anything humans can make. Now, with a bit of a push from scientists, spiders have actually created the strongest material known to humans.

Researchers say that when planning a diet, you should consider your feelings, and how they will play a role in your eating behavior.

Social media is a place where anyone with a keyboard can shout out their ideals — no matter how controversial. However, researchers are finding that anorexics are taking to these sites and flaunting their unhealthy mentalities toward eating.

When plentiful food is scarce, researchers suggest making a shopping list may help low-income families keep physically and financially healthy in areas that could be labeled as food deserts.

To have a Dad Bod, unless it’s truly born of heavy drinking and pizza slices, is to live a busy life in which preoccupation with one’s body image is low on the list of priorities.

Some people get anxious when they’re without their smartphones, but others may become phobic. Researchers are working on a way to measure this new, modern malady. 

Don’t shave your beards just yet; the panic over feces in beards may have been exaggerated — there’s fecal matter everywhere. 

Writing is a recent innovation in the history of human evolution. So, how then is it that our brains organize this skill?

Harsh criticism of Chipotle’s marketing ploy to eliminate some genetically modified ingredients is part of a growing movement to stand up to advocates on many issues who promote fear that flies in the face of the evidence.

Today, anyone who is driven by a dream to solve a problem has the opportunity to change the world. This wasn’t the case in past eras.

When we have smaller portions, we tend to savor the food more, eating more slowly, making the dish and the experience just as satisfying.

If children are given healthy options on restaurant menus, they’ll pick healthy options. What’s more, revenue won’t suffer; according to a recent study, it went up.

Two minutes of walking for every hour of sitting can lower your risk of dying by 33 percent.

Many issues stand against a mission to Mars: fuel, landing, and sustaining life on the red planet are just a few. But scientists say that the astronauts that depart will not be the same — the structure of their brains will change.

Researchers are working on a method to transform every blood type into O — the universal-donor blood type.

Children may know the words for seconds and hours as early as two, but understanding how long two minutes are versus one hour comes with experience.

Researchers have found that the earthquake has taken an inch from the iconic Mount Everest.

The social justice pope spoke out this week on two hot topics. On Tuesday, he held a climate change summit. On Wednesday, he called the gender pay gap a “scandal.”

Something like social contracts likely run deep in our nature. As does the “economic justice” they need. The largest database we have on hunter-gatherer cultures suggests our ancestors had rigidly egalitarian tendencies 10,000 generations ago. 

Sitting cheek-by-jowl in the packed press gallery at the Supreme Court on Tuesday and listening to 150 minutes of oral arguments in the historic same-sex marriage cases, I marveled at […]

When confronting a challenge, people with an optimistic outlook persist at trying to overcome that challenge about 20 percent longer than those with less optimism.

A psychiatrist has made headlines claiming smartphones are making children “borderline” autistic. Here’s why that’s rubbish:

News coverage of risk that plays up how scary things sound and plays down or leaves out anything that moderates the fear does real and serious harm.

A team of researchers has found how the placebo effect can change the chemistry of the brain itself.

When we think about future events in days, rather than years, we’re able to better connect with our future selves.

Researchers suggest that loneliness may trigger a hormone in healthy women that causes them to eat more — even when they’re full.

Letting kids take control of their summer reading may help boost test scores and prevent the “summer slide.”

Researchers make a case for why you should go to the movies alone. They say you’ll have just as much fun as if you went with a group — don’t miss out on life just because you can’t find someone to go with you.

Many authors have dwelled on the benefits and possible pitfalls of invisibility on the human mind. Researchers focused more on the former, finding fear of public speaking lessens when people feel they are invisible.

Dr. Julie Holland’s new book addresses common societal myths society about women, mood, and emotional control. “Moods are not an annoyance to be stuffed away,” says Holland. They’re “one of the biggest strengths and assets that women have.”