An evolutionary analysis of pop tunes revealed that over the past 30 years songs have grown sadder—but the big hits buck that trend. Christopher Intagliata reports. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Christopher Intagliata.

Pediatric cardiologist Ismée Williams discusses her young adult novel, Water in May, about a teenage girl whose newborn has a life-threatening heart condition. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Steve Mirsky.

The new Google AI voice assistant, called Duplex, highlights the intricacies of carrying out a mundane human-style conversation, as it keeps you off the phone. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Larry Greenemeier.

Orangutans were observed to use plant extracts to treat their own pain. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Doug Main.

Racing pigeons is big business—and doping is common. Now scientists have devised a way to detect doping in the avian athletes. Christopher Intagliata reports. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Christopher Intagliata.

Scientists have added radar info to seismic data, isotope measurements and optical imagery to study covert nuclear tests. Christopher Intagliata reports. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Christopher Intagliata.

Hunting regulations in Sweden prohibit killing brown bear mothers in company of cubs—causing mama bears to care for their young longer. Jason G. Goldman reports. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Jason G. Goldman.

Sediment records have confirmed that Jupiter and Venus change Earth's orbit from virtually circular to noticeably elliptical and back every 405,000 years. Christopher Intagliata reports. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Christopher Intagliata.

The InSight Mission will look at Mars's seismic activity and latent heat to find out more about how planets get made--and how humans might live there. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Lee Billings.

Tomato plants detected snail slime in soil near them and mounted preemptive defenses, even though they were not directly touched. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Erica Tennenhouse.

Ancient tools on Mediterranean islands could predate the appearance of modern humans—suggesting Neandertals took to the seas. Christopher Intagliata reports. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Christopher Intagliata.

Thierry Zomahoun, president of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, talks about the potential and needs of science on the continent. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Mariette DiChristina.

Advice from an N.Y.U. food policy symposium: eating healthfully means you can't ever let down your guard when shopping. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Steve Mirsky.

In a study of children interacting with toy animals Native American kids and non-Native kids imagined the animals very differently. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Jason G. Goldman.

Listeners gave more credence to a scientist’s radio interview when the audio was good quality than they did to the same material when the audio was poor. Christopher Intagliata reports. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Christopher Intagliata.

Today in Boston, Gates announced a $12-million initiative to foster the development of a vaccine effective against all flu strains. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Steve Mirsky.

The Bora people in the northwestern Amazon use drums to send languagelike messages across long distances. Christopher Intagliata reports. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Christopher Intagliata.

Lawns mowed every two weeks hosted more bees than lawns mowed every three weeks. Jason G. Goldman reports. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Jason G. Goldman.

A new study claims it's easier to accurately whistle a melody than to sing it. Christopher Intagliata reports. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Christopher Intagliata.

A look at a database of fatal traffic accidents found a 12 percent increase on the informal marijuana holiday 4/20 after 4:20 P.M. compared with nearby dates. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Steve Mirsky.

Mice trapped in New York City apartment buildings harbored disease-causing bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes. Christopher Intagliata reports. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Christopher Intagliata.

Researchers used Twitter searches for nonflu words associated with behavior to predict flu outbreaks two weeks in advance. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Rachel Berkowitz.

Non-native milkweed species planted in the southern U.S. could harm monarch butterflies as temperatures rise. Jason G. Goldman reports. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Jason G. Goldman.

Princeton University's Jennifer Rexford talks about optimizing the internet for the uses it got drafted into performing. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Mariette Dichristina.

Researchers try to figure out why every 20 years a Pakistan glacier moves roughly 1,500 times faster. -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comBy Katherine Kornei.