Today’s most popular religions all have one thing in common: a focus on morality. But the gods didn’t always care whether you are a bad person. Researchers have long puzzled over when and why religions moved away from a singular focus on ritual and began to encourage traits such as self-discipline,

A remarkable international effort to map out the avian tree of life has revealed how birds evolved after the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs into more than 10,000 species alive today. More than 200 scientists in 20 countries joined forces to create the evolutionary tree, which reveals

A tiny dinosaur about the size of a house cat was recently discovered in South Korea. The dinosaur's fossilized remains span about 11 inches, but scientists told Korea JoongAng Daily that it was likely about 20 inches long when it was alive. “Based on the findings so far, we assume that the

When we listen to someone talking, we hear some sounds that combine to make words and other sounds that convey such things as the speaker’s emotions and gender. The left hemisphere of our brain manages the first task, while the right hemisphere specializes in the second. Dogs also have this kind of

The bodies kept washing ashore—dozens of mutilated harbor porpoises stranded on the Dutch beaches every year, their bloody remains discovered by screaming vacationers. Now, after 10 years of crime scene investigation–style work—complete with autopsies and DNA testing—biologists and veterinary