Historically, married women in the United States have done the lion’s share of their households’ laundry, cooking and cleaning. But that gendered norm appears to be shifting, with the gap between the time married women and men spent on such chores shrinking by 40 percent over the last two decades, researchers report February 6 in

The tiny worm Caenorhabditis elegans has a brain just about the width of a human hair. Yet this animal’s itty-bitty organ coordinates and computes complex movements as the worm forages for food. “When I look at [C. elegans] and consider its brain, I’m really struck by the profound elegance and efficiency,” says Daniela Rus, a

The Stone Age forest dwellers bolster the idea that humans evolved across Africa An investigation of a previously excavated site in West Africa finds that people inhabited that region’s rainforests, such as the one shown here, by around 150,000 years ago. Dr. Alexey Yakovlev/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0) Humans lived under the leafy canopy of a

Some companies make the claim, but all the data come from mice In experiments, scientists have found that gut bacteria can have an effect on mice’s desire for sugar. Some companies claim probiotics can have the same effect in people. TanyaLovus/iStock/Getty Images Plus, Martin Barraud/Stone/Getty Images, T. Tibbitts Sugar is a siren song to many people.

Carl Zimmer unspools the history of aerobiology In the 19th century, tuberculosis surged through Europe in a deadly epidemic. A new book recounts how aerobiology, the study of life in the air, illuminated the disease’s airborne transmission. duncan1890/Getty Images Air- Borne Carl Zimmer Dutton, $32 On March 10, 2020, 61 choir members rehearsed in a

Frigid water helped paint Mars red and may have shaped a vast coastline, two new studies into the planet’s history reveal. Scientists have detected a possible ancient beach in Mars’ northern hemisphere and identified a water-containing mineral responsible for the planet’s rosy hue. The findings reveal details about conditions on Mars when the planet last

The complete hyaenodont fossil holds evolutionary clues about the ancient apex predators Hyaenodonts, illustrated here, were hyena-sized, meat-eating mammals that hunted through the forests of present-day Africa roughly 30 million years ago. Ahmad Morsi In the fossil-rich sands of the Faiyum Oasis in Egypt, archaeologists have uncovered one of the most complete skulls ever found

A first survey of museum specimens finds biofluorescence in 37 of 45 species With an extravagant tail, a male of the emperor’s bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea guilielmi) has a lot of feathery decoration to work with as he flirts with females and postures toward rival males. Jacques Erard/eBird With flashy feathers and fancy moves, birds of paradise

A small, rocky island off Iceland is home to the world’s largest breeding colony of Atlantic puffins. When breeding season is in full swing, around 1.5 million adults pair up and nestle into burrows on the grassy seaside slopes above Heimaey island’s rocky cliffs. Once chicks hatch, puffin moms and dads devote about six weeks

The third episode of The Deep End finds Jon in the operating room as he gets electrodes implanted in his brain. You’ll hear how Jon and other volunteers feel in the hours, days and weeks after their surgery, including an itch to go to the library, an urge to walk around the block and a