#neuroscience

The Science of Earworms: Why Songs Get Stuck in Your Head

The Science of Pareidolia: Why We See Faces in Toast

The Science of Why We Dream in Color (and Why Some People Don't)

The Science of the Gut Microbiome: Your Second Brain

There are more bacterial cells in your body than human cells. The gut microbiome influences everything from your mood to your immune system to your risk for Parkinson's disease. Here's how your trillions of tiny passengers may be running the show.

The Science of Blushing: The Human Race's Strangest Superpower

Blushing is the only emotional expression that's uniquely, unmistakably human. Why did evolution give us a response that broadcasts our most embarrassing moments to everyone around us?

The Science of Fear: Why Your Heart Pounds and Why You Love It

Fear is one of our oldest and most powerful emotions — a finely-tuned survival machine. But what's actually happening in your brain and body when you're terrified? And why do so many of us seek it out for fun?

The Science of Itching: Why Scratching Feels So Good (And Why You Can't Stop)

From the mysterious TRPV4 'stop scratching' signal in your spinal cord to the contagious itch that spreads through a room, the neuroscience of itching reveals a surprisingly sophisticated defense system.

The Science of Kissing: Why We Lock Lips

A simple kiss sets off a hurricane of brain chemistry, hormone exchange, and subconscious assessment. Here's what's really happening when you lock lips.

The Myth of the Tongue Map: How Your Taste Buds Actually Work

You were probably taught in school that different parts of your tongue detect different tastes. That tongue map? It's completely wrong. Here's what your taste system actually looks like.

The Science of Tears: Why Do We Cry?

Humans are the only animals that cry emotional tears. Why? The science of tears reveals a surprisingly sophisticated system — three different types of tears, each with a distinct chemical composition and purpose.

The Science of Human Memory: Encoding, Storage, and the Art of Forgetting

The Science of Synesthesia: When Senses Cross Wires

The Science of Laughter: Why Do We Do It and What's the Point?

Laughter is one of the most universal human behaviors, yet science is still unraveling why we do it, what happens in our brains, and why it's so good for us.

The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon: Why You Suddenly See Things Everywhere

The Hidden Compass: How Animals Sense Earth's Magnetic Field

The Placebo Effect: When a Sugar Pill Heals You

The Science of Goosebumps: Why Music and Cold Make Your Skin Crawl

The Science of Lucid Dreaming: When You Know You're Dreaming

The Science of Yawning: Why We Do It and Why It's Contagious

The Neuroscience of Music: Why Your Brain Runs on Rhythm

The Science of Déjà Vu: Why Does Your Brain Glitch Like a Bad CD?

The Science of Laughter: Why Your Brain Loves a Good Joke

The Alien Minds of Octopuses: Eight Arms, Nine Brains, and a Truly Weird Intelligence

Octopuses evolved intelligence on a completely separate branch of the tree of life — our last common ancestor was a worm-like creature. The result is a mind so different from ours that scientists call it 'the closest thing to an alien intelligence on Earth.'