Teamwork has been fundamental in humanity’s greatest achievements but scientists have found that working together has its evolutionary roots in our nearest primate relatives – chimpanzees.

Study of world-famous Stingray City finds human interaction drastically alters stingray behavior.

The Isabella anomaly — the seismic signal of a large mass of cool, dehydrated material about 100 kilometers beneath central California — is in fact a surviving slab of the Farallon oceanic plate, according to new research. Most of the Farallon plate was driven deep into the Earth’s mantle as the Pacific and North American plates began converging around 100 million years, eventually coming together to form the San Andreas fault.

Buried for 100,000 years at Xujiayao in the Nihewan Basin of northern China, the recovered skull pieces of an early human exhibit a now-rare congenital deformation that indicates inbreeding might well have been common among our ancestors, new research suggests.

Microbes from the human mouth are telling scientists something about periodontitis and more after they cracked the genetic code of bacteria linked to the condition.

A new report finds that by the year 2050, the United States may be able to reduce petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent for light-duty vehicles — cars and small trucks — via a combination of more efficient vehicles; the use of alternative fuels like biofuels, electricity, and hydrogen; and strong government policies to overcome high costs and influence consumer choices.

Biogeochemists have filled in a billion-year gap in our understanding of conditions in the early ocean during a critical time in life’s history on Earth. During the period 1.8 to 0.8 billion years ago, oxygen likely remained low in the atmosphere and ocean, with marine life dominated by bacteria. The ocean was oxygen-free and iron-rich in the deepest waters and hydrogen sulfide-containing over limited regions on the ocean margins.

How much worse will the frequency of extreme storm surges get as temperatures rise in the future? How many extreme storm surges like that from Hurricane Katrina, which hit the U.S. coast in 2005, will there be as a result of global warming? New research shows that there will be a tenfold increase in frequency if the climate becomes two degrees Celsius warmer.

Computer simulations of water under extreme pressure are helping geochemists understand how carbon might be recycled from hundreds of miles below the Earth’s surface.

Lab results show the same signaling enzymes can trigger two different processes in the cell, sounding a warning to biomedical researchers.

After almost four decades of absence from local waters, a special sea slug appears to be making a comeback, and marine scientists are eagerly anticipating its return.

A detailed revision of the Afrotropical liopterid wasp subfamily Mayrellinae reveals nine new species in the genus Paramblynotus coming from Africa and a first time record in Madagascar.

In the world’s forested regions, two management systems — retention forestry and agroforestry — are being used to alleviate conflicts between preserving biodiversity and addressing human needs in production landscapes. A new article draws a parallel between the ecological effects of the two systems.

If left unchecked, the pale cyst nematode burrows into potato roots to feed, obstructing nutrients and causing stunted growth, wilted leaves and other symptoms that can eventually kill the plant. Now scientists are evaluating new ways to control the pest using naturally occurring chemicals called egg-hatching factors.

Strange thickened antennae like bulls’ horns and mustache-like scent scales are amongst the romantic armory of males of Australia’s tiniest moths, as revealed in a new study of their diversity and evolution. The arid continent has provided an ideal home for the ancient pigmy moths, which have taken to Eucalyptus and related plants as hosts for their leaf-mining caterpillars, and diversified into at least 140 species.

Ancient rises in sea levels and global warming are partially attributable to cyclical activity below Earth’s surface, researchers have concluded in an analysis of geological studies. However, changes spurred by Earth’s interior are gradual, taking place in periods ranging from 60 million to 140 million years — far less rapidly than those brought on by human activity.

It has long been believed that male lions are dependent on females when it comes to hunting. But new evidence suggests that male lions are, in fact, very successful hunters in their own right. A new report shows that male lions use dense savanna vegetation for ambush-style hunting in Africa.

Highly developed antennae containing different types of olfactory receptors allow insects to use minute amounts of odors for orientation. Scientists have now provided experimental proof that the extremely sensitive olfactory system of fruit flies is based on self-regulation of odorant receptors. Even a below threshold odor stimulation increases the sensitivity of the receptor, and if a second odor pulse arrives, a neural response will be elicited.

Of course, roosters crow with the dawn. But are they simply reacting to the environment, or do they really know what time of day it is? Researchers have evidence that puts the clock in “cock-a-doodle-doo.

Glaciers at the edge of Greenland which are not connected to its huge ice sheet, or can be clearly separated from it, are contributing to sea-level rise much more than previously thought. Scientists have found that, though these peripheral glaciers make up just 5 to 7 percent of total ice coverage on the land mass, they account for up to 20 percent of the rise in sea level created by the region’s melting.

Marine biologists have, for the first time, found a whale skeleton on the ocean floor near Antarctica, giving new insights into life in the sea depths. The discovery was made almost a mile below the surface in an undersea crater and includes the find of at least nine new species of deep-sea organisms thriving on the bones.

New research suggests evolution, or basic survival techniques adapted by early humans, influences the decisions gamblers make when placing bets. The findings may help to explain why some treatment options for problem gamblers often don’t work, the researchers say.