Amanda Heidt

The question of what defines a species has vexed scientists across the ages, particularly in conservation, where decisions require a firm understanding of biodiversity.

Evidence suggests that people likely boated across the narrow passage between Russia and Alaska when the crossing was submerged.

There are lots of ways to measure predatory prowess, and the animal kingdom is full of worthy contenders.

Scientists have been vollying the question back and forth for more than a century.

Plants draw on a suite of pigments to produce energy from sunlight, and in the fall, some become more obvious than others.

Very few gems can withstand the intense pressure of Earth's mantle, but some require it to crystallize.

Youngsters often hunker down to hide from predators, and spots can provide excellent camouflage.

The answer depends on the design of the bullet and the gun, as well as on what happens once the bullet leaves the muzzle.

It isn't true that we can't smell ourselves, although we do become habituated to our own scent.

Walking upright has allowed us to become some of the best distance runners in the world, but at the expense of speed.

Plants are capable of producing seedless fruit through a process called parthenocarpy, and humans have long leveraged it in agriculture.

Something unique does seem to have taken place during this time when so many animal groups first appeared, but it's not an open-and-shut case.

Any object with mass distorts the space-time continuum, which we perceive as gravity pulling us "down" toward that object's center.

Scientists discovered Fanzor proteins, which work like CRISPR but are smaller and more easily delivered into cells, and used them to edit human DNA.

All species experience the bodily changes of puberty, but the social lessons that define the shift from childhood to adulthood are more nuanced.

What it's like to skydive through a cloud depends in part on the type of cloud, but regardless, you'll likely end up cold and wet.