The bacterial strain that wiped out half of 14th century Europe, scientists found, soon died out itself.

Your gut population falls into one of three groups.

Why do riderless bikes stay upright? What we thought was wrong.

Fragments of hepatitis B, which put the immune system on high alert, make a new malaria vaccine the most successful yet.

A new Cornish hen–sized creature, discovered by Chinese paleontologists, throws the traditional chronology into question.

The Large Hadron Collider is supposed to solve the top mysteries in physics. That has not happened yet. Joseph Lykken explains why not, and what to do next.

Single-molecule motor is 60,000 times thinner than a human hair.

Some forests have rebounded... but the news isn't all good.

Three new studies suggest ways to home in on cancer cells during treatment, leaving surrounding healthy tissue unharmed.

Babies may be able to help teach computers common sense.

Overconfidence can help explain wars, financial disasters, and collapsed 
civilizations. Social scientist James Fowler explores how such a destructive social 
trait manages to thrive.

Under the US's new strategy, the military can prepare for cyber warfare just as it prepares for wars on land.

Solar in trouble after a recent mini-boom.

A new compound is 100,000 times stronger than DEET.

Think of him as a cop with the world’s biggest beat: Security guru Jeff Moss is in charge of keeping the entire Internet stable, resilient, and safe.

It made even the biggest storms on Earth look puny.

Sprouts contaminated with E. coli killed 50 people and sickened more than 4,000.

Drawing on its large consumer base, 23andMe identifies two genetic variants associated with Parkinson's Disease in just 18 months, a fraction of the time disease studies usually require.

Researchers have pinpointed a surprisingly common gene that may cause infertility, offering new avenues for treatment.

Two treatments that boost the immune system improve survival rates and slow cancer growth in late-stage melanoma patients.

Astronomers glimpse stellar creation.

Scientists had high hopes for reprogrammed stem cells, which could be derived from a patient's own tissue and grown into any type of cell in the body. But two studies this year highlighted major issues with reprogrammed cells, making their path to the clinic look longer than ever.

But if you were close enough to touch, you'd be entirely squished by the gravity.

A newly discovered cache of stone tools in the United Arab Emirates suggests that early humans left Africa earlier than we'd thought.

Simple maternal blood tests can detect Down syndrome five weeks earlier than existing tests, with no risk to the fetus.

Peter Vesterbacka on the secret to making the most popular, ridiculously addictive video game in history.

Scientists find the world's largest virus.

A new study suggests that environment accounts for more than half of autism risk, while genes are responsible for about 40 percent.

Tiny clumps of neurons doze off, even while the brain as a whole is awake.

Did early matings with Neanderthals increase our ability to fight disease?

The quickest way to climb aboard a plane may be the least ordered.

Extreme weather events have helped diminish many sporting events.

A re-worked form of silicon may be the next smallest, fastest thing in computer chip design.

A new map shows the hotspots of energetic activity in our galaxy and beyond.

A new study uncovered biomarkers for Lyme disease symptoms that persist even after treatment.

New waffle-like construction of chips does more with less.

The CDC recommended that preteen boys, as well as girls, get the HPV vaccine.

Private spaceflight companies draw ever closer to putting people into space their own way.

Minimally conscious and vegetative patients show different patterns of neural activity.

Study records lowest measurement of ice yet; environmentalists (and polar bears) not pleased.