Every kid knows that moms have “eyes in the back of their heads.” We are adept at fixing our gaze on one object while independently directing attention to others. Salk Institute neurobiologists are beginning to tease apart the complex brain networks that enable humans and other higher mammals to achieve this feat. read story
Evolution may not always plod along at the, well, evolutionary pace we all learned about in school.
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Couch potatoes, take heart. That irrepressible urge to veg out might just be a matter of brain chemistry–at least, in hamsters. read in full issue (pdf)
Scientists have known for some time that certain genes affect the way our shapes ultimately shape up–how we develop physically. Now, researchers have pinpointed two families of genes suspected of playing a central role in the “master Plan” of how vertebrate skeletons are sculpted. read in full issue (pdf)
Rock pocket mice are common denizens of the Sonoran desert regions around Tucson, but you’ll probably never see one in the wild. The small rodents are strictly nocturnal, finding refuge from the daytime desert heat in their underground burrows. By night, they gather seeds, their only source of food and water, and do their best to elude owls, their main predators. Now, these inconspicuous animals may have gained some celebrity as a textbook example of adaptation by natural selection, thanks to a team of University of Arizona evolutionary biologists. read story