Behavioral Science News

December 11, 2025

Top Headlines

These Bald Eagles Fly the Wrong Way Every Year and Stun Scientists

Dec. 11, 2025 Scientists tracking young Arizona Bald Eagles found that many migrate north during summer and fall, bucking the traditional southbound pattern of most birds. Their routes rely heavily on historic stopover lakes and rivers, and often extend deep into ...

Gut Molecule Shows Remarkable Anti-diabetes Power

Dec. 8, 2025 Researchers revealed that the microbial metabolite TMA can directly block the immune protein IRAK4, reducing inflammation and improving insulin sensitivity. The molecule counteracts damage caused by high-fat diets and even protects mice from sepsis. ...

Scientists Studied 47,000 Dogs on CBD and Found a Surprising Behavior Shift

Nov. 28, 2025 Data from over 47,000 dogs reveal that CBD is most often used in older pets with chronic health issues. Long-term CBD use was linked to reduced aggression, though other anxious behaviors didn’t improve. The trend was strongest among dogs whose ...

Scientists Reveal a Hidden Alarm System Inside Your Cells

Nov. 25, 2025 Ribosomes don’t just make proteins—they can sense when something’s wrong. When they collide, they send out stress signals that activate a molecule called ZAK. Researchers uncovered how ZAK recognizes these collisions and turns them into ...

A Tiny Worm Just Revealed a Big Secret About Living Longer

Nov. 14, 2025 Scientists studying aging found that sensory inputs like touch and smell can cancel out the lifespan-boosting effects of dietary restriction by suppressing the key longevity gene fmo-2. When overactivated, the gene makes worms oddly indifferent to ...

Why Women Live Longer Than Men, Explained by Evolution

Oct. 28, 2025 An international team of researchers led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, working with 15 collaborators around the world, has conducted the most comprehensive study yet of lifespan differences ...

Insects Are Disappearing from the Last Places We Thought Were Safe

Sep. 23, 2025 A long-term study in Colorado reveals that insect populations are plummeting even in remote, undisturbed areas. Over two decades, flying insect abundance dropped by more than 70%, closely linked to rising summer temperatures. The results suggest ...

Scientists Just Found Hidden Parasitic Wasps Spreading Across the U. S.

Sep. 15, 2025 Researchers discovered two new parasitic wasp species living in the U.S., tracing their origins back to Europe and uncovering clues about how they spread. Their arrival raises fresh questions about biodiversity, ecological risks, and the role of ...

Scientists Unlock Nature’s Secret to Superfast Mini Robots

Aug. 24, 2025 Ripple bugs’ fan-like legs inspired engineers to build the Rhagobot, a tiny robot with self-morphing fans. By mimicking these insects’ passive, ultra-fast movements, the robot gains speed, control, and endurance without extra ...

Why Tiny Bee Brains Could Hold the Key to Smarter AI

Aug. 24, 2025 Researchers discovered that bees use flight movements to sharpen brain signals, enabling them to recognize patterns with remarkable accuracy. A digital model of their brain shows that this movement-based perception could revolutionize AI and ...

Most of Earth’s Species Came from Explosive Bursts of Evolution

Aug. 23, 2025 A new study reveals that the majority of Earth’s species stem from a few evolutionary explosions, where new traits or habitats sparked rapid diversification. From flowers to birds, these bursts explain most of the planet’s ...

Greenland’s Glacial Runoff Is Powering Explosions of Ocean Life

Aug. 18, 2025 NASA-backed simulations reveal that meltwater from Greenland’s Jakobshavn Glacier lifts deep-ocean nutrients to the surface, sparking large summer blooms of phytoplankton that feed the Arctic food ...

Latest Headlines

updated 2:27pm EST

Human Brains Light Up for Chimp Voices in a Way No One Expected

Dec. 10, 2025 Humans don’t just recognize each other’s voices—our brains also light up for the calls of chimpanzees, hinting at ancient communication roots shared with our closest primate relatives. ...

Fossil Brain Scans Show Pterosaurs Evolved Flight in a Flash

Dec. 9, 2025 Ancient pterosaurs may have taken to the skies far earlier and more explosively than birds, evolving flight at their very origin despite having relatively small brains. Using advanced CT imaging, ...

Doomed Ants Send a Final Scent to Save Their Colony

Dec. 3, 2025 Ant pupae that are fatally sick don’t hide their condition; instead, they release a special scent that warns the rest of the colony. This signal prompts worker ants to open the pupae’s cocoons ...

Wild Chimps Consume More Alcohol Than Anyone Expected

Dec. 1, 2025 Chimpanzees naturally ingest surprising amounts of alcohol from ripe, fermenting fruit. Careful measurements show that their typical fruit diet can equal one to two human drinks each day. This ...

The Surprising Reason Bees Replace Their Queens

Nov. 22, 2025 Worker bees stage coordinated revolts when viral infections weaken their queen and lower her pheromone output. This disruption drives many of the queen failures that beekeepers struggle with today. ...

Scientists Reveal Kissing Began Millions of Years Before Humans

Nov. 21, 2025 Scientists have traced kissing back to early primates, suggesting it began long before humans evolved. Their analysis points to great apes and even Neanderthals sharing forms of kissing millions of ...

Chimps Shock Scientists by Changing Their Minds With New Evidence

Nov. 16, 2025 Chimps may revise their beliefs in surprisingly human-like ways. Experiments showed they switched choices when presented with stronger clues, demonstrating flexible reasoning. Computational modeling ...

Nectar Wars Between Bumble Bees and Invasive Ants Drain the Hive

Nov. 13, 2025 Bumble bees battling invasive Argentine ants may win individual fights but ultimately lose valuable foraging time, putting pressure on colonies already strained by habitat loss, disease, and ...

A Fierce Crocodile Ancestor That Hunted Before Dinosaurs Has Been Found

Nov. 12, 2025 Scientists have identified a new crocodile precursor that looked deceptively dinosaur-like and hunted with speed and precision. Named Tainrakuasuchus bellator, the armored “warrior” lived 240 ...

Scientists Shocked as Bumblebees Learn to Read Simple “Morse Code”

Nov. 12, 2025 In a first-of-its-kind study, scientists found that bumblebees can tell the difference between short and long light flashes, much like recognizing Morse code. The insects learned which signal led to ...

Killer Whales Perfect a Ruthless Trick to Hunt Great White Sharks

Nov. 3, 2025 In the Gulf of California, a pod of orcas known as Moctezuma’s pod has developed a chillingly precise technique for hunting young great white sharks — flipping them upside down to paralyze and ...

A Prehistoric Battle Just Rewrote T. Rex’s Story

Nov. 2, 2025 The debate over Nanotyrannus’ identity is finally over. A remarkably preserved fossil proves it was a mature species, not a teenage T. rex. This discovery rewrites how scientists understand ...

This Tiny Worm Uses Static Electricity to Hunt Flying Insects

Oct. 15, 2025 A parasitic worm uses static electricity to launch itself onto flying insects, a mechanism uncovered by physicists and biologists at Emory and Berkeley. By generating opposite charges, the worm and ...

After 25 Years, Scientists Solve the Bird-Eating Bat Mystery

Nov. 2, 2025 After decades of mystery, scientists have finally proven that Europe’s largest bat, the greater noctule, hunts and eats small songbirds mid-air—more than a kilometer above ground. Using tiny ...

Birds Around the World Share a Mysterious Warning Cry

Oct. 6, 2025 Birds across the globe independently evolved a shared warning call against parasites, blending instinct and learning in a remarkable evolutionary pattern. The finding offers a rare glimpse into how ...

This Flower Smells Like Dying Ants, and Flies Can’t Resist It

Sep. 25, 2025 Vincetoxicum nakaianum tricks flies into pollinating it by imitating the smell of ants attacked by spiders. Ko Mochizuki stumbled upon this finding when he noticed flies clustering around the flowers ...

Fish Love Songs Recorded for 12 Years Reveal a Surprising Shift

Sep. 23, 2025 By recording grouper grunts for 12 years, scientists discovered major shifts in how red hind spawn and compete. Courtship calls once dominated, but territorial sounds have surged, suggesting changes ...

What Looks Like Dancing Is Actually a Bug’s Survival Trick

Oct. 3, 2025 The matador bug’s flamboyant leg-waving puzzled scientists for years, with early guesses pointing to courtship. But experiments revealed the waving is a defense tactic against predators. Related ...

Scientists Uncover the Secret to Orangutan Survival in the Trees

Aug. 30, 2025 Young orangutans master the art of building intricate treetop nests not by instinct alone, but by closely watching their mothers and peers. Researchers tracking wild Sumatran orangutans over 17 years ...

Spiders Turn Fireflies Into Glowing Traps

Aug. 28, 2025 In Taiwan’s forests, researchers discovered a clever hunting trick by the sheet web spider Psechrus clavis. Instead of immediately devouring captured fireflies, the spiders allow them to glow in ...

70-Million-Year-Old Crocodile Relative With Dinosaur-Crushing Jaws Found in Argentina

Aug. 29, 2025 Seventy million years ago, southern Patagonia was home to dinosaurs, turtles, and mammals—but also to a fierce crocodile-like predator. A newly discovered fossil, astonishingly well-preserved, ...

Scientists Unlock the Gene That Lets Bearded Dragons Switch Sex

Aug. 20, 2025 Two independent research teams have unveiled near-complete reference genomes of the central bearded dragon, a reptile with the rare ability to change sex depending on both chromosomes and nest ...

Trojan Horse Bacteria Sneak Cancer-Killing Viruses Into Tumors

Aug. 17, 2025 Scientists have engineered a groundbreaking cancer treatment that uses bacteria to smuggle viruses directly into tumors, bypassing the immune system and delivering a powerful one-two punch against ...

One Gene Completely Changed How These Flies Fall in Love

Aug. 17, 2025 By flipping a single genetic switch, researchers made one fruit fly species adopt the gift-giving courtship of another, showing how tiny brain rewiring can drive evolutionary ...

This Prehistoric Predator Survived Global Warming by Eating Bones

Aug. 6, 2025 A prehistoric predator changed its diet and body size during a major warming event 56 million years ago, revealing how climate change can reshape animal behavior, food chains, and survival ...

700,000 Years Ahead of Their Teeth: The Carbs That Made Us Human

Aug. 2, 2025 Long before evolution equipped them with the right teeth, early humans began eating tough grasses and starchy underground plants—foods rich in energy but hard to chew. A new study reveals that this ...

These Butterflies Look the Same, but DNA Uncovered Six Hidden Species

Aug. 4, 2025 Glasswing butterflies may all look alike, but behind their transparent wings hides an evolutionary story full of intrigue. Researchers discovered that while these butterflies appear nearly identical ...

Stunning “wonder Reptile” Discovery Rewrites the Origins of Feathers

Aug. 9, 2025 The newly described Mirasaura grauvogeli from the Middle Triassic had a striking feather-like crest, hinting that complex skin appendages arose far earlier than previously believed. Its bird-like ...

A 500-Million-Year-Old Fossil Just Rewrote the Spider Origin Story

July 24, 2025 Half a billion years ago, a strange sea-dwelling creature called Mollisonia symmetrica may have paved the way for modern spiders. Using detailed fossil brain analysis, researchers uncovered neural ...

A Tiny Dinosaur Bone Just Rewrote the Origin of Bird Flight

July 24, 2025 A tiny, overlooked wrist bone called the pisiform may have played a pivotal role in bird flight and it turns out it evolved far earlier than scientists thought. Fossils from bird-like dinosaurs in ...