Thousands of years ago, Aristotle knew that some mushrooms glowed, so it is no surprise the great thinker wondered why.

Science may finally have an answer for his question. 

A new study posits that the light emitted from those fungi attracts the attention of insects, including beetles, flies, wasps, and ants. Those insect visitors are apparently good for the fungi because they spread the fungal spores around. The new study also shows that the mushrooms' bioluminescence is under the control of the circadian clock. In fact, it was that discovery that led the researchers to suspect that the mushrooms' light must serve some useful purpose.

A  recent paper discusses shows how rapidly formed first impressions that influence our subsequent behavior towards that person can be accurately predicted based on the physical features found in everyday images of faces, such as those found on social media.

The impressions we create through such images are important in a world where we increasingly get to know one another online rather than in the flesh. 

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which emerged in humans last year in the Saudi Arabian peninsula, causes severe respiratory disease, with a mortality rate of 35 percent. No specific therapy is currently available. 

Passive immunization, a procedure where you inject a former patient's antibodies into a new patient to fight the disease, has been used in the past, including last year in a small number of cases of Ebola, but in the case of MERS, few former patients are available to donate antibodies. Additionally, their antibody titers are often too low, and many former patients are not healthy enough to donate.

It's supposed to help keep our bodies healthy in stressful situations. But the constant stress of our everyday lives means we're getting overexposed to cortisol. Raychelle Burks, Ph.D., explains why too much cortisol is bad for you in the latest episode of the Reactions series Get To Know A Molecule.

Display screens are everywhere but convenience needs are going up, not down, and people are wanting to break free of rigid monitors. The race is on to develop computer displays that can be easily rolled up and put away rather than requiring a flat surface for storage and transportation.

A new study suggests that a novel DNA-peptide structure can be used to produce thin, transparent, and flexible screens. The research, conducted researchers at Tel Aviv University, harnesses bionanotechnology to emit a full range of colors in one pliable pixel layer, as opposed to the several rigid layers that constitute today's screens.

Warming winters may be linked to mountain pine beetle outbreaks in the coldest areas of the western United States but the causes are multi-faceted, according to a new U.S. Forest Service study.