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The Mongol hordes led by Genghis Khan carved out the largest contiguous land empire history has ever witnessed, reaching at its apex from Asia's Pacific coast to eastern Europe and down into Persia and southeastern Asia. Although conventional wisdom suggests drought may have pushed them across the steppe to conquer more bountiful lands, ancient, long-dead trees discovered in a forbidding lava field in Mongolia give evidence that unprecedented rains might actually have helped fuel their expansion. [More]

I woke up, bleary-eyed, to news that would change my week: A corpse plant was about to bloom at Cornell University. In other words, the most amazing thing I could imagine was unfolding, literally, down the street from my house. The corpse plant has the largest unbranched blossom in the world

In the consumer-tech sense, friction is inconvenience. It's a hassle--steps that stand between you and what you want to buy or do.

The spiraling cost of satellite programs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has lawmakers from both parties sniffing around for a strategy to trim the agency's budget. [More]

By Helen Pearson of Nature magazine Halfway through breakfast, Joe Thornton gets a call from his freezer.

Honey is awesome. I ve found its best consumed when combined with nougat and wrapped in dark chocolate but I digress. [More]

By Carina Dennis of Nature magazine Mouse 'avatars' could in future allow physicians to find the most effective cocktail of cancer drugs to combat a particular tumor before giving them to a patient, according to researchers at the annual meeting of the Human Genome Organization (HUGO) in Australia last week. "Using a personalized cancer avatar makes it possible to try out different combinations and make some mistakes before going into the clinic," says Edison Liu, president of HUGO and head of the Jackson Laboratory at Bar Harbor in Maine

The U.K.

A few months back I was at the main Apple Store in New York City. I wanted to buy a case for my son’s iPod touch--but it was December 23. The crowds were so thick, I envied sardines

Is the attempt to make environmentally friendly roadways doomed to wind up in the toilet? Actually, it may be the other way around

The smell of a rich dessert can make your mouth water. But can an extra helping of its smell help you eat less?

From Nature magazine [More]

From Nature magazine [More]

By Mark Schrope of Nature magazine Each year, thousands of macaques and other monkeys are flown into Europe and North America to supply academic and industrial research labs -- more than 18,000 to the United States in 2011 alone. [More]

By Mark Schrope of Nature magazine Each year, thousands of macaques and other monkeys are flown into Europe and North America to supply academic and industrial research labs -- more than 18,000 to the United States in 2011 alone. [More]