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The Grinches That Stole Valentine's Day: Creatures That Say No to Sex
From "lesbian lizards" to sea stars, some animals can survive for quite a while without mating, thank you very much. 02.14.2012
#58: Sperm Gene Points to Infertility Cure
Researchers have pinpointed a surprisingly common gene that may cause infertility, offering new avenues for treatment. 01.05.2012
The Sperm Crisis: A Tough Nut to Crack
Bad food, bad genes, and monogamy are sucking the life out of human sperm. But conceptive gels and stem cells could bring some virility back. 11.08.2011
5 Things That Internet Porn Reveals About Our Brains
From an enormous trove of sexual Web searches, neuroscientists extract some startling lessons in hidden desire. 09.20.2011
Helped by Hops, Discourse by Dance, and Reign by Royalactin
Bees have amazingly complicated social structures and behaviors, and are critical for a lot of agriculture. Hopefully not all of their colonies will collapse... 08.10.2011
Discover Interview: Lynn Margulis Says She's Not Controversial, She's Right
It's the neo-Darwinists, population geneticists, AIDS researchers, and English-speaking biologists as a whole who have it all wrong. 06.17.2011
#99: Sex Secrets of the Bi-Gender Chicken
12.16.2010
#96: Male Pipefish Pick Their Litters
12.16.2010
The 100 Top Science Stories of 2010
Every year DISCOVER sorts through the scientific accomplishments of the past 12 months, and assembles a list of the coolest experiments, most brilliant discoveries, and most world-changing events. As you page through the countdown to the #1 science story, we think you'll come to the same conclusion we did: 2010 was quite a year. 12.16.2010
8 Marine Creatures that Light Up the Sea
How bioluminescence makes the ocean go round. 02.01.2010
Impostors! Ten Species That Survive by Imitation
Disguises, fake sex, and eau de rotting flesh: These plants and animals use the weirdest ruses to get by. 01.26.2010
#29: Richer Nations Can Expect Another Baby Boom
The most developed countries seem to reverse a trend of decreasing fertility. 01.25.2010
Field Notes: Meddling With Mosquito Romance in the Name of Public Healt
The duets sung by male and female mosquitoes are a critical part of their mating ritual. If researchers can master mosquito music, they may be able to abort a whole generation of disease-carriers. 01.20.2010
The Mating Game's Biggest Cheaters
Backstabbing is rife in the animal kingdom—especially among hermaphroditic flatworms, which literally stab each other with their penises during mating to determine who will carry the babies. 01.11.2010
#66: Girls Hit Puberty Earlier Around the World
Better nutrition and synthetic estrogens seem to be bringing early maturation to China, Denmark, and the U.S. 12.27.2009
The Calculating Beauty of Butterflies
How butterflies' colorful wing patterns help them hide, lie, and impress the ladies. 11.11.2009
Reading Women's Biological Clocks
Computational geneticist Tara Matise looks for biomarkers that predict when women will become infertile. 09.29.2009
Flash, Deception & Suicide: 10 Remarkable Tricks of Animal Mating
From strutting their stuff to committing suicide, some animals will stop at nothing to make sure they get a crack at reproducing. 07.23.2009
Beautiful Images of Strange Fruits
The scarlet pimpernel's has a natural hinge. The blueberry glows brightly—in ultraviolet light. The Buddha's hand looks like… You guessed it. 03.11.2009
DNA Agrees With All the Other Science: Darwin Was Right
Molecular biologist Sean Carroll shows how evolution happens, one snippet of DNA at a time 02.19.2009
Darwin's Dystopias: Ghastly Visions Inspired by Evolution
A new collection of art shows how one scientist shocked the world. 02.12.2009
#53: Bizarre Aquatic Creatures Are Secretly "Lesbian Necrophiliacs"
Asexual bdelloids aren't really asexual after all. 12.12.2008
#87: Speedy Sperm Explains Flower Power
The quickest out of the gate, angiosperms dominate the plant world. 12.07.2008
#92: A 380-Million-Year-Old Fish Gives Birth
Paleontologists unearth a prehistoric pregnant skeleton. 12.05.2008
Mom and Dad Are Fighting in Your Genes—and in Your Brain
Our brains may contain a battle of the sexes that can cause schizophrenia and autism. 11.10.2008
The Science of Great Sex at 80
Doctors and drug companies are working hard to help seniors get it on like teenagers. 09.15.2008
What Happens When an Ovary Dies?
An unusual condition pulls a woman in the ER—and doctors into a guessing game. 05.01.2008
Finally! A Nearly Foolproof Circumcision.
Ingenious new device means lower HIV rates, safer penises. 03.24.2008
Why Aren’t All People Beautiful?
Maybe the genes that make hot males make distinctly un-hot females. 11.27.2007
The Real Dirty Secret about Sex
Life doesn’t need it, so why do we do it? 11.12.2007
Stupid Science Word of the Month: Shmoo
Shmoos are essential: without them, we would have neither bread nor beer. 11.09.2007
Eating Spiders Can Fix a Bird Brain
Blue tits raise smart, brave chicks by feeding them arachnids. 09.19.2007
Against All Odds, Sex Has Returned
A mite reevolves sex after hundreds of millions of years without it. 06.19.2007
Babies from Bone Marrow
Another potential use for stem cells: procreation. 06.15.2007
The Real Story on Gay Genes
Homing in on the science of homosexuality—and sexuality itself 06.05.2007
Tiny Troublemaker, Giant Genome
A one-celled vaginal parasite sports more genes than its human host. 05.08.2007
Unstoppable Babies
Newborn dolphins and killer whales don't sleep. At all. 04.10.2007
Unstoppable Babies
Newborn dolphins and killer whales don't sleep. At all. 02.19.2007
Jaron's World: Frozen in Time
Birth reveals the transitional nature of the design. 12.12.2006
Seeds
How flowering plants beat out the competition on ancient earth 11.14.2006
Raw Data: Do Brothers Make You Gay?
Boys with older brothers are more likely to be gay. But is it nurture or nature? 09.01.2006
Secrets Of Bat Machismo
In some species, a successful male doesn't need much of a brain. 05.28.2006
Top Dogs
Steroid hormones give hyenas a head start. 04.28.2006
A Good Reason For Sex
Water fleas elucidate the evolution of gender. 02.24.2006
Ladies' Night in Animal Kingdom
02.20.2006
Cuttlefish In Love
Maritime mating tricks. 02.13.2006
The Year in Science: Genetics
01.08.2006
Fertility
Now a woman can store her eggs and conceive a baby sixties. 10.24.2005
T. Rex Sex
T. Rex Sex 09.09.2005
The Biology of . . . Sex Ratios
Want a boy at all costs? The secret may lie in your glucose levels 06.05.2005
Young & Rested
05.01.2005
Men: Get Laptops Off Your Laps
03.31.2005
Maximus Factor aka Ancient Avon
02.07.2005
27: Frozen Ovary Restores Fertility
01.03.2005
52: Mice Breed Without Fathers
01.03.2005
51: To Get Pregnant in Your Sixties
01.02.2005
Forbidden Science
What can studies of pornography, prostitutes, and seedy truck stops contribute to society? 08.02.2004
Pouch or no Pouch
Whether 'tis wiser to nourish a fetus in an external flap or grow it in a womb has shaped a new mystery of evolution 07.25.2004
The Shot That Could Replace the Pill
06.27.2004
A Fruity Look at the Origin of Man
05.29.2004
The Good Egg
Determining when life begins is complicated by a process that unfolds months before a sperm meets an egg 05.29.2004
Brides, Beware!
04.21.2004
My, What Big Arms You Have
02.05.2004
Vital Signs
What could be tormenting a woman who lives such a sheltered life? 10.01.2003
Reset the Biological Clock?
10.01.2003
Monogamy Kills
09.01.2003
Race to the Egg
07.01.2003
Counting Coots
07.01.2003
Why Do So Many Africans Get AIDS?
06.01.2003
Emotions and the Brain: Love
Are we finally getting good enough at biochemistry to understand the mystery—and magic—of romance? 05.01.2003
How Many Fathers are Best?
After 40 years of visiting the Barí Indians in Venezuela, anthropologists have discovered a new twist on family values 04.01.2003
Don't be a Spineless Lover
03.01.2003
Vital Signs
Where did it go? 10.01.2002
Works in Progress
Can a shot or a pill put the brakes on biology? 10.01.2002
You Look Good Enough to Eat
06.01.2002
Why We Take Risks
When it comes to evolution, survival of the fittest is only half the story. The handicap principle holds that humans make showy and sometimes dangerous displays of courage to increase their status and attract mates 12.01.2001
By the Numbers: Taming Sex Diseases
09.01.2001
How to Deliver a Bouncing Baby Amoeba
08.01.2001
Hot Diapers and Cold Fertility
01.01.2001
The Biology of . . . Morning Sickness
Why do pregnant women get nauseated just when their bodies most need food? 09.01.2000
The Crack Kid Myth
Devastating effects of prenatal cocaine exposure don't pan out. 09.01.2000
Hookers & Haulers
05.01.2000
The Physics of. . . Insect Flight
Insects have long been the best fliers around, but no one knew what kept them in the air--until now 04.01.2000
Bedroom MRI's
03.01.2000
Pheromone Follies
09.01.1999
Passion Pills
A new crop of designer drugs in the works will allow you to pick a potion that guarantees good sex even if you--or your partner--don't much feel like it 09.01.1999
Faking It
08.01.1999
Sex and Control
What do you do if a lot of the struggle takes place at a molecular level and neither person knows it? 05.01.1999
Maa-Maa's Boys
12.01.1998
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Baby
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Baby 05.01.1998
Human in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
Fertility clinics have been called the Wild West of medicine—an unregulated world where a dead man can impregnate a stranger and where a child can have five parents. 05.01.1998
Light Elements: Pigeons on Parade
Breeders have created head ruffs, chest frills,and fantails for the lowly, abused bird. 04.01.1998
Light Elements:Pigeons on Parade
Breeders have created head ruffs, chest frills,and fantails for the lowly, abused bird. 03.01.1998
The Year in Science: Evolution 1997
Theropod in Progress 01.01.1998
The Year in Science: Plants 1997
An Ancient Convenience 01.01.1998
Femmes Fatales Fireflies
12.01.1997
Y?
Cheer up, guys. Your favorite chromosome is turning out to be not just an X with something missing. It's a sperm-producing powerhouse. 11.01.1997
Squid Sex
10.01.1997
Against Nature
Contraception, adoption, celibacy--if natural selection favors genes that make people be fruitful and multiply, why do we work so hard to concoct recipies for genetic suicide? 10.01.1997
Popping Polyps
09.01.1997
Brave New Egg
We may soon be able to grow unlimited numbers of perfectly healthy, fertilizable human eggs in the laboratory. Whether we should, of course, is an entirely different question. 04.01.1997
Tusk Tales
02.01.1997
Sperm Futures
01.01.1997
No Shortage Yet
01.01.1997
Don't Fertilize, Neutralize
01.01.1997
Dance With Me, My Lovely
01.01.1997
Not a Raptor--a Caring Mom
01.01.1997
The Pandemic Continues
01.01.1997
That's Some Snood
12.01.1996
Gambling With Time
12.01.1996
The Best Ways to Sell Sex
Evolutionary biologists are always struggling to discover what evolution has long ago figured out--such as why, or if, ladies like a massive sperm-depositing organ, and gentlemen prefer paired fat deposits on the female form. 12.01.1996
Onanism Amongst the Scaly
11.01.1996
The Eyes Have It
11.01.1996
Fetal Errors
07.01.1996
Why Women Change
Why are human females hobbled in their prime by menopause? 07.01.1996
Conceptual Shift
03.01.1996
Love by the Line
03.01.1996
The Benefits of Virgin Birth
03.01.1996
Scent of a Man
02.01.1996
Bisexual Flies
01.01.1996
Malaysian Rhythms
01.01.1996
Synchronized Seaweed Sex
09.01.1995
Apes of Wrath
08.01.1995
The Heart and the Helix
02.01.1995
A Monopoly on Maternity
02.01.1994
Sex and the Female Agenda
Most female mammals are anything but subtle when it comes to telling males it's time for sex. Not humans. For good evolutionary reasons, women have found it's much better to keep men in the dark. 09.01.1993
How Many People Can Earth Hold?
Our urge to go forth and multiply could, a century and a half from now, leave earth with more than 694 billion people--some 125 times our current populations. 11.01.1992
How Does a Single Cell Become a Whole Body?
It remains one of biology's deepest enigmas. How does an egg, a tiny squishy blob of a cell, grow into a fully formed organism--a sinuous worm, a delicate fly, a perfect human baby? 11.01.1992
Why Bother?
Sex seems like an unnecessarily complicated means of reproducing. So how did it ever get started? And why did it catch on? 06.01.1992
Sperm Tales
Though dumb, ugly, and uncoordinated, sperm manage to get the job done. 06.01.1992
What Would Life Be Like Without Sex?
What Would Life Be Like Without Sex? 06.01.1992
The Aggressive Egg
When it comes to describing fertilization, biologists have got it all wrong. The egg is no passive lady-in-waiting. 06.01.1992
What Would Life Be Like Without SEX?
06.01.1992
What's Love Got to Do With It
Sex among our closest relatives is a rather open affair. 06.01.1992
Reversal of Fortune
Where is it written in stone that the man should have all the fun? In some species of animals, evolution has made females the polygamists. 04.01.1992
Portrait in Blubber
Fat, loud, and far from shy, elephant seals don't come across as mysterious creatures. But they hold many surprises. 03.01.1992
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