DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University researchers have figured out how a developmental disease called microcephaly produces a much smaller brain than normal: Some cells are simply too slow as they proceed through the neuron production process.

Published online Jan. 7 in the journal Neuron, the findings provide not only a new mechanistic explanation for microcephaly, but they could also aid understanding of autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders that are thought to arise from disruptions in the proper balance of neurons in the brain.

If you are allergic, you might need to thank a Neanderthal. 

When modern humans began interbreeding with Neanderthals tens of thousands of years ago, the exchange left humans with gene variations that increased our ability to ward off infection and left some people more prone to allergies.

So if you like your immune system, you might need to thank a Neanderthal for that also.

Take any religion that claims to be about peace and it will have a violent history. And while Islam is the most violent religion claiming to be peaceful today, Christians commit plenty of hateful acts - and Buddhists have extremists in their ranks as well.

Forests can store as much as 45 percent of the world's terrestrial carbon, making them a critical part of the process of regulating climate change.

As global temperatures rise, though, the organic matter in forests appears to break down more quickly, accelerating the release of carbon into the atmosphere.

This surprising conclusion comes out of a long-term study that was intended to find means to mitigate global warming, not exacerbate it.

How more than 1,000 tree species may occur in a small area of forest in Amazonia or Borneo is an unsolved mystery. Their ability to co-exist may depend on how trees get along with their neighbors. A new study based, in part, on data from the Smithsonian's Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) network shows that trees worldwide compete in some of the same ways, making simpler models of forest response to climate change possible.

DENVER (January 7, 2016) Dinosaurs engaged in mating behavior similar to modern birds, leaving the fossil evidence behind in 100 million year old rocks, according to new research by Martin Lockley, professor of geology at the University of Colorado Denver.

Lockley, a paleontologist, led an international research team that discovered large 'scrapes' in the prehistoric Dakota sandstone of western Colorado. These ancient scrapes are similar to a behavior known as 'nest scrape display' or 'scrape ceremonies' among modern birds, where males show off their ability to provide by excavating pseudo nests for potential mates.

James Cook University researchers have found sex sells when it comes to luring male mosquitoes.

Senior Research Officer Brian Johnson and Professor Scott Ritchie set out to make a cheap and effective audio lure for scientists collecting male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes -- the species that carries dengue and yellow fever.

They found a tone of precisely 484 Hertz, the frequency of a female Aedes aegypti's wings, brought 95 percent of male mosquitoes to the trap.

Mr Johnson said the device cost around $20 and could be run by itself for weeks. "We started with a cheap mobile phone and moved to an even cheaper MP3 player. There are no harmonics, it's a pure tone and very simple to produce."

Everyone has at least a few non-negotiable values. These are the things that, no matter what the circumstance, you'd never compromise for any reason - such as "I'd never hurt a child," or "I'm against the death penalty."

Real-time brain scans show that when people read stories that deal with these core, protected values, the "default mode network" in their brains activates.

This network was once thought of as just the brain's autopilot, since it has been shown to be active when you're not engaged by anything in the outside world - but studies like this one suggest that it's actually working to find meaning in the narratives.

When you have a fever, your nose is stuffed and your headache is spreading to your toes, your body is telling you to stay home in bed. Feeling sick is an evolutionary adaptation according to a hypothesis put forward by Prof. Guy Shakhar of the Weizmann Institute's Immunology Department and Dr. Keren Shakhar of the Psychology Department of the College of Management Academic Studies, in a recent paper published in PLoS Biology.

In 2009, there was concern that American health care costs were too high. Since the advent of the Affordable Care Act, there is now concern that costs are really too high, only it is not rich doctors and insurance companies being vilified, it is defensive medicine and doctors being willing to sign off on unnecessary things to keep patients happy which, along with lawsuits, was the problem the whole time.

A study in the American Journal of Managed Care finds that more than half of primary care providers reported that they made what they considered unnecessary referrals to a specialist because patients wanted it and many physicians gave into patient requests for brand-name drugs when cheaper generics were available.