Behavioral Science News
November 3, 2025
Top Headlines
Oct. 28, 2025 — An international team of researchers led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, working with 15 collaborators around the world, has conducted the most comprehensive study yet of lifespan differences ...
Sep. 23, 2025 — A long-term study in Colorado reveals that insect populations are plummeting even in remote, undisturbed areas. Over two decades, flying insect abundance dropped by more than 70%, closely linked to rising summer temperatures. The results suggest ...
Sep. 15, 2025 — Researchers discovered two new parasitic wasp species living in the U.S., tracing their origins back to Europe and uncovering clues about how they spread. Their arrival raises fresh questions about biodiversity, ecological risks, and the role of ...
Aug. 24, 2025 — Ripple bugs’ fan-like legs inspired engineers to build the Rhagobot, a tiny robot with self-morphing fans. By mimicking these insects’ passive, ultra-fast movements, the robot gains speed, control, and endurance without extra ...
Aug. 24, 2025 — Researchers discovered that bees use flight movements to sharpen brain signals, enabling them to recognize patterns with remarkable accuracy. A digital model of their brain shows that this movement-based perception could revolutionize AI and ...
Aug. 23, 2025 — A new study reveals that the majority of Earth’s species stem from a few evolutionary explosions, where new traits or habitats sparked rapid diversification. From flowers to birds, these bursts explain most of the planet’s ...
Aug. 18, 2025 — NASA-backed simulations reveal that meltwater from Greenland’s Jakobshavn Glacier lifts deep-ocean nutrients to the surface, sparking large summer blooms of phytoplankton that feed the Arctic food ...
Aug. 17, 2025 — Scientists have engineered a groundbreaking cancer treatment that uses bacteria to smuggle viruses directly into tumors, bypassing the immune system and delivering a powerful one-two punch against cancer cells. The bacteria act like Trojan horses, ...
Aug. 6, 2025 — A prehistoric predator changed its diet and body size during a major warming event 56 million years ago, revealing how climate change can reshape animal behavior, food chains, and survival ...
Aug. 4, 2025 — Glasswing butterflies may all look alike, but behind their transparent wings hides an evolutionary story full of intrigue. Researchers discovered that while these butterflies appear nearly identical to avoid predators, they produce unique pheromones ...
July 8, 2025 — High heat and heavy metals dampen a bumblebee’s trademark buzz, threatening pollen release and colony chatter. Tiny sensors captured up-to-400-hertz tremors that falter under environmental stress, raising alarms for ecosystems and sparking ideas ...
July 8, 2025 — Feral water buffalo now roam Hong Kong s South Lantau marshes, and a 657-person survey shows they ignite nostalgia, wonder, and worry in equal measure. Many residents embrace them as living links to a fading rural past and potential conservation ...
Latest Headlines
updated 12:29pm EST
Nov. 3, 2025 — In the Gulf of California, a pod of orcas known as Moctezuma’s pod has developed a chillingly precise technique for hunting young great white sharks — flipping them upside down to paralyze and ...
Nov. 2, 2025 — The debate over Nanotyrannus’ identity is finally over. A remarkably preserved fossil proves it was a mature species, not a teenage T. rex. This discovery rewrites how scientists understand ...
Nov. 2, 2025 — After decades of mystery, scientists have finally proven that Europe’s largest bat, the greater noctule, hunts and eats small songbirds mid-air—more than a kilometer above ground. Using tiny ...
Oct. 24, 2025 — Scientists have unveiled Khankhuuluu, a new Mongolian dinosaur species that predates and closely resembles early Tyrannosaurs. With its long snout, small horns, and lean build, it represents a ...
Oct. 15, 2025 — A parasitic worm uses static electricity to launch itself onto flying insects, a mechanism uncovered by physicists and biologists at Emory and Berkeley. By generating opposite charges, the worm and ...
Oct. 6, 2025 — Birds across the globe independently evolved a shared warning call against parasites, blending instinct and learning in a remarkable evolutionary pattern. The finding offers a rare glimpse into how ...
Oct. 4, 2025 — The matador bug’s flamboyant leg-waving puzzled scientists for years, with early guesses pointing to courtship. But experiments revealed the waving is a defense tactic against predators. Related ...
Sep. 25, 2025 — Vincetoxicum nakaianum tricks flies into pollinating it by imitating the smell of ants attacked by spiders. Ko Mochizuki stumbled upon this finding when he noticed flies clustering around the flowers ...
Sep. 23, 2025 — By recording grouper grunts for 12 years, scientists discovered major shifts in how red hind spawn and compete. Courtship calls once dominated, but territorial sounds have surged, suggesting changes ...
Sep. 1, 2025 — Young orangutans master the art of building intricate treetop nests not by instinct alone, but by closely watching their mothers and peers. Researchers tracking wild Sumatran orangutans over 17 years ...
Earlier Headlines
Aug. 28, 2025 — In Taiwan’s forests, researchers discovered a clever hunting trick by the sheet web spider Psechrus clavis. Instead of immediately devouring captured fireflies, the spiders allow them to glow in ...
Aug. 29, 2025 — Seventy million years ago, southern Patagonia was home to dinosaurs, turtles, and mammals—but also to a fierce crocodile-like predator. A newly discovered fossil, astonishingly well-preserved, ...
Aug. 20, 2025 — Two independent research teams have unveiled near-complete reference genomes of the central bearded dragon, a reptile with the rare ability to change sex depending on both chromosomes and nest ...
Aug. 17, 2025 — By flipping a single genetic switch, researchers made one fruit fly species adopt the gift-giving courtship of another, showing how tiny brain rewiring can drive evolutionary ...
Aug. 2, 2025 — Long before evolution equipped them with the right teeth, early humans began eating tough grasses and starchy underground plants—foods rich in energy but hard to chew. A new study reveals that this ...
Aug. 9, 2025 — The newly described Mirasaura grauvogeli from the Middle Triassic had a striking feather-like crest, hinting that complex skin appendages arose far earlier than previously believed. Its bird-like ...
July 24, 2025 — Half a billion years ago, a strange sea-dwelling creature called Mollisonia symmetrica may have paved the way for modern spiders. Using detailed fossil brain analysis, researchers uncovered neural ...
July 24, 2025 — A tiny, overlooked wrist bone called the pisiform may have played a pivotal role in bird flight and it turns out it evolved far earlier than scientists thought. Fossils from bird-like dinosaurs in ...
July 9, 2025 — Long-tailed macaques given short videos were glued to scenes of fighting—especially when the combatants were monkeys they knew—mirroring the human draw to drama and familiar faces. Low-ranking ...
June 25, 2025 — Leafcutter ants live in highly organized colonies where every ant has a job, and now researchers can flip those jobs like a switch. By manipulating just two neuropeptides, scientists can turn ...
June 16, 2025 — Sea anemones may hold the key to the ancient origins of body symmetry. A study from the University of Vienna shows they use a molecular mechanism known as BMP shuttling, once thought unique to ...
June 24, 2025 — Two Ice Age wolf pups once thought to be early dogs have been identified as wild wolves, thanks to detailed DNA and chemical analysis. Surprisingly, their last meals included woolly rhinoceros ...
June 15, 2025 — Aphid-hunting wasps can reproduce with or without sex, challenging previous assumptions. This unique flexibility could boost sustainable pest control if its hidden drawbacks can be ...
June 27, 2025 — Remove the top male spotty fish and, within minutes, the next-in-line female morphs into the tank s new tyrant charging and nipping rivals while her body quietly begins a weeks-long transition to ...
May 29, 2025 — Researchers have identified a monoacylglycerol acyltransferase-coding gene named bishu-1. It is involved in the thermal responsiveness of cool temperature-sensing neurons by regulating ionotropic ...
May 29, 2025 — Coffee can help you stay awake. But what does caffeine actually do to your brain once you're asleep? Using AI, a team of researchers has an answer: it affects the brain's ...
May 29, 2025 — Whether you are lucky enough to have a cat companion or must merely live this experience vicariously through cat videos, Felis catus is a familiar and comforting presence in our daily lives. Unlike ...
May 29, 2025 — Scientists analyzed almost 200 cannabis genomes to create the most comprehensive, high-quality, detailed genetic atlas of the plant to date. The atlas reveals unprecedented diversity and complexity ...
May 27, 2025 — Researchers conducted a systematic review of 99 scientific publications that compared the flora or fauna of old-growth forests, managed forests and clearcut sites in boreal Europe. The reviewed ...
May 23, 2025 — The molecular pathways involved in antiviral defenses and counter-defenses in host-pathogen systems remain unclear. Researchers have used Neurospora crassa as a model organism to explore how RNA ...
Thursday, August 28, 2025
Friday, August 29, 2025
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
Sunday, August 17, 2025
Saturday, August 2, 2025
Saturday, August 9, 2025
Thursday, July 24, 2025
- A 500-Million-Year-Old Fossil Just Rewrote the Spider Origin Story
- A Tiny Dinosaur Bone Just Rewrote the Origin of Bird Flight
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Monday, June 16, 2025
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Sunday, June 15, 2025
Friday, June 27, 2025
Thursday, May 29, 2025
- Keep the Cool Feeling: A Lipid Enzyme for Maintaining Cool Temperature Sensation and Avoidance
- How Does Coffee Affect a Sleeping Brain?
- Genetic Basis of Purring in Cats
- Cannabis Pangenome Reveals Potential for Medicinal and Industrial Use
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Friday, May 23, 2025
Thursday, May 22, 2025
- The Scent of Death? Worms Experience Altered Fertility and Lifespan When Exposed to Dead Counterparts
- How Cholera Bacteria Outsmart Viruses
- Ox-Eye Daisy, Bellis and Yarrow: Flower Strips With at Least Two Sown Species Provide 70 Percent More Natural Enemies of Pests
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
- Can Plants Hear Their Pollinators?
- Unlocking the Secrets of Bat Immunity
- Songbirds' Great Risk Results in Great Genetic Reward
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
- Asian Elephants Have Larger Brains Than Their African Relatives
- Surprise Baby Whale Sightings Reveal There's Still Much to Learn About Humpbacks
Monday, May 19, 2025
- Bees Facing New Threats, Putting Our Survival and Theirs at Risk
- How to Swim Without a Brain
- Mice Use Chemical Cues Such as Odors to Sense Social Hierarchy
Friday, May 16, 2025
- Very Different Mammals Follow the Same Rules of Behavior
- Overlooked Cell Type Orchestrates Brain Rewiring
Thursday, May 15, 2025
- Two HIV Vaccine Trials Show Proof of Concept for Pathway to Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies
- Protein Switch Turns Anti-Viral Immune Response on and Off
- Scientists Track Down Mutation That Makes Orange Cats Orange
- Digital Reconstruction Reveals 80 Steps of Prehistoric Life
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
- Artificial Intelligence and Genetics Can Help Farmers Grow Corn With Less Fertilizer
- UV Light and CT Scans Helped Scientists Unlock Hidden Details in a Beautifully-Preserved Fossil Archaeopteryx
- Light-Driven Cockroach Cyborgs Navigate Without Wires or Surgery
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
- Palaeontologists Discover 506-Million-Year-Old Predator
- Not All Orangutan Mothers Raise Their Infants the Same Way
- With AI, Researchers Predict the Location of Virtually Any Protein Within a Human Cell
- 'Loop'hole: HIV-1 Hijacks Human Immune Cells Using Circular RNAs
- Butterflies Hover Differently from Other Flying Organisms, Thanks to Body Pitch
Monday, May 12, 2025
- Echidna Microbiome Changes While Mums Nurse Puggle
- Evidence of Mother-Offspring Attachment Types in Wild Chimpanzees
Friday, May 9, 2025
- The Origins of Language
- Novel, Needle-Free, Live-Attenuated Influenza Vaccines With Broad Protection Against Human and Avian Virus Subtypes
- Heat and Land Use: Bees Suffer in Particular
- Can Frisky Flies Save Human Lives?
Thursday, May 8, 2025
- Red Alert for Our Closest Relatives
- Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of a Smallpox Vaccine for Preventing Mpox
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
Monday, May 5, 2025
- Halo Patterns Around Coral Reefs May Signal Resilience
- Gorilla Study Reveals Complex Pros and Cons of Friendship
- Vertical Farming to Increase Yields and Reduce Environmental Impact
Friday, May 2, 2025
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
- Zoo Life Boosts Object Exploration in Orangutans
- Deciphering the Migratory Behavior and Connectivity of Mediterranean and Atlantic Cory's Shearwaters
- When Sea Stars Fall, Sea Otters Rise: Sea Otters Benefit from Prey Boom Triggered by Loss of Ochre Sea Stars
- Machine Learning Brings New Insights to Cell's Role in Addiction, Relapse
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
- Forest in Sync: Spruce Trees May Communicate During a Solar Eclipse
- Giant Croclike Carnivore Fossils Found in the Caribbean
- Palatable Versus Poisonous: Eavesdropping Bats Must Learn to Identify Which Prey Is Safe to Eat
Monday, April 28, 2025
- Social 'hippie' Spiders Don't Believe in Labels: Study Challenges Long-Held Assumptions About Animal Personalities
- Family First: Scientists Reveal Long-Tailed Tits' Remarkable Family Bonds
- New Research on Bird Behavior Suggests That Evolution May Repeat Itself
- Evolution of Pugs and Persians Converges on Cuteness
Friday, April 25, 2025
Thursday, April 24, 2025
- Blocking a Surprising Master Regulator of Immunity Eradicates Liver Tumors in Mice
- Monkey Database Reveals Shift Towards Open Science
- New Approach Makes AI Adaptable for Computer Vision in Crop Breeding
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Monday, April 21, 2025
- Wild Chimps Filmed Sharing 'boozy' Fruit
- Even Sublethal Insecticide Dose May Disrupt Pollinator Mating Process
- How Changes in Lemur Brains Made Some Mean Girls Nice
Friday, April 18, 2025
Thursday, April 17, 2025
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
- Little Birds' Personalities Shine Through Their Song -- And May Help Find a Mate
- Primate Mothers Display Different Bereavement Response to Humans
- Foraging on the Wing: How Can Ecologically Similar Birds Live Together?
- Gut Microbes Release Cancer-Fighting Bile Acids That Block Hormone Signals
Monday, April 14, 2025
- New Plant Molecule Encourages Plant-Fungi Symbiosis to Improve Crops
- Unlocking the Genetic Basis of Animal Behavior Using Fruit Flies
Friday, April 11, 2025
Thursday, April 10, 2025
- Immune Protein Modification Blocks Viral Replication, Heart Inflammation
- Drug Pollution Alters Salmon Migration
- Researchers Put Glycemic Response Modeling on a Data Diet
Wednesday, April 9, 2025
- Love Songs in the Sand: Researchers Listen in to Fiddler Crab Courtship
- Eight or More Drinks Per Week Linked to Signs of Injury in the Brain
- Scientists Map Unprecedented Detail of Connections and Visual Perception in the Mouse Brain
- Six Ape Genomes Sequenced Telomere-to-Telomere
- Reduced Movement of Starlings With Parasite Infections Has a Negative Impact on Their Offspring
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
- Declining Insect Biodiversity in the Tropics
- Lactic Acid Bacteria Can Improve Plant-Based Dairy Alternatives