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Like many newborn mammals, baby mice cry to get their mother's attention. But the mother doesn't instinctively recognize these calls; she must learn the sounds of her offspring-just as human parents must learn the cries of their infants. Now, a team of researchers has discovered that the hormone oxytocin, which has been tied to trust and maternal bonding, holds the key to how this learning occurs. Only after oxytocin  tweaks the brain of a female mouse does she respond with a mother's concern and attentiveness to crying pups.

Pheidole dentata, a native of the southeastern U.S., isn't immortal. But scientists have found that it doesn't seem to show any signs of aging. Old worker ants can take care of infants, forage and attack prey just as well as the youngsters, and their brains appear just as sharp. "We really get a picture that these ants-throughout much of the lifespan that we measured, which is probably longer than the lifespan under natural conditions-really don't decline," says Ysabel Giraldo, who studied the ants for her doctoral thesis at Boston University.

An ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work will help you build the foundations of belonging for every student. But DEI work alone is not enough. Let's go back to your students. Are your lessons designed in alignment with what we know from cognitive science about how the human brain learns? What does the practice work you assign look like? What study strategies do you teach students to use? How is metacognition built? Does the feedback you give students help or hurt? What does homework look like?

BodyMaps is an interactive visual search tool that allows users to explore the human body in 3-D. With easy-to-use navigation, users can search multiple layers of the human anatomy, view systems and organs down to their smallest parts, and understand in detail how the human body works. Using detailed 3-D models of body parts-including muscles, veins, bones, and organs-BodyMaps offers a new way to visualize and manage your health. See how the coronary artery delivers blood to the heart, and learn how plaque build-up on artery walls leads to heart disease. Locate the exact location of a pulled muscle or broken bone, and find information on how to prevent injuries. View a cross-section of the human brain, and learn which areas control certain emotions and body functions. By offering rich, detailed anatomical images alongside links to relevant and useful health information, BodyMaps allows you to leam about your body and your health in a personalized and revolutionary new way.

"Now we have evidence that urinary odor signatures can be altered by changes in the brain characteristic of Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Bruce Kimball, a chemical ecologist at the USDA National Wildlife Research Center, in a news release. "This finding may also have implications for other neurologic diseases."

The premise of Assassin's Creed is the reliving of other people's memories stored inside DNA. Well scientists have found that in mice, it actually happens! Anthony is joined by special guest and our friend Tara Long from Hard Science to explain how this process works, and if it might apply to humans as well.

In the 2013 Holiday Lectures on Science, Charles L. Sawyers of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Christopher A. Walsh of Boston Children's Hospital will reveal the breathtaking pace of discoveries into the genetic causes of various types of cancers and diseases of the nervous system, and discuss the impact of those discoveries on our understanding of normal human development and disease.

Australian outfit Bridge 8, who have the admirable mission of devising "creative strategies for science and society," and animator James Hutson have created six fantastic two-minute animations on various aspects of critical thinking, aimed at school ages 8 to 10, or kids between the ages of 13 and 15, but also designed to resonate with grown-ups. Inspired by the animation style of the 1950s, most recognizably Saul Bass, the films are designed to promote a set of educational resources on critical thinking by TechNYou, an emerging technologies public information project funded by the Australian government.

Extensive lessons from hands on inquiry lab at University of Rochester, developed/written with research funds.

It's a common saying that elephants never forget. But the more we learn about elephants, the more it appears that their impressive memory is only one aspect of an incredible intelligence that makes them some of the most social, creative, and benevolent creatures on Earth. Alex Gendler takes us into the incredible, unforgettable mind of an elephant.