Spider Silk Is Stronger Than Steel — And Now It Can Be Made In A Lab

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Anthropologist Robin Dunbar says our social networks are limited to about 150 connections. Courtesy of Robin Dunbar hide caption

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Courtesy of Robin Dunbar

Is There A Limit To How Many Friends We Can Have?

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Are there ways to make traffic better in our cities? Video still courtesy TED hide caption

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Video still courtesy TED

Can We Improve Our Transportation Network Using...Biology?

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Computer scientist Avi Rubin speaking at TEDxMidAtlantic. Chris Suspect/TED hide caption

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Chris Suspect/TED

What Happens When Hackers Hijack Our Smart Devices?

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The highly rated variety of medical marijuana known as "Blue Dream" was displayed among other strains at a cannabis farmers market in Los Angeles in 2014. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

Marijuana's Health Effects? Top Scientists Weigh In

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Helen Dahlke, a scientist from the University of California, Davis, stands in an almond orchard outside Modesto that's being deliberately flooded. This experiment is examining how flooding farmland in the winter can help replenish the state's depleted aquifers. Joe Proudman/Joe Proudman / Courtesy of UC Davis hide caption

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Joe Proudman/Joe Proudman / Courtesy of UC Davis

As Rains Soak California, Farmers Test How To Store Water Underground

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For the first time, scientists have synthesized a three-stranded molecular braid that twisted into a knot with eight crossings, as in this rendering. Stuart Jantzen/Biocinematics.com/Science hide caption

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Stuart Jantzen/Biocinematics.com/Science

Scientists Have Twisted Molecules Into The Tightest Knot Ever

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New Gene-Editing Techniques Hold the Promise Of Altering The Fundamentals Of Life

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A mouse with predatory brain circuits switched on is much more likely to attack and kill prey like this cricket. Courtesy of Ivan de Araujo/Cell Press hide caption

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Courtesy of Ivan de Araujo/Cell Press

Flipping A Switch In The Brain Turns Lab Rodents Into Killer Mice

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The killer whale J2, better known as "Granny," pokes her head out of the water in the Salish Sea near the San Juan Islands of Washington in July 2016. Granny, who was thought to be about 105 years old at the time, was presumed to have died later that year. Mark Malleson/Center for Whale Research/AP hide caption

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Mark Malleson/Center for Whale Research/AP

Menopause Mystery: Why Do Female Killer Whales Experience The Change Of Life?

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The hyolith Haplophrentis extends the tentacles of its feeding organ (lophophore) from between its shells. The paired spines, or "helens," are propping the animal up off the ocean floor. Danielle Dufault/(C) Royal Ontario Museum hide caption

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Danielle Dufault/(C) Royal Ontario Museum

Mai Dang, who owns Fashion Nails in Berkeley, Calif., does a client's nails. The ventilator hose poised over her shoulder helps keeps noxious fumes at bay. Jenny Gold/Kaiser Health News hide caption

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Jenny Gold/Kaiser Health News

California Nail Salons Start To Invest In Worker Safety

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Alyson Hurt and Katie Park/NPR

We Asked People What They Know About Obamacare. See If You Know The Answers

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Powerful Storms Make Dent In California's Historic Drought

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Musi, an African elephant, is one of Fresno Chaffee Zoo's five elephants enrolled in the Elephant Welfare Initiative. Courtesy of the Fresno Chaffee Zoo hide caption

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Courtesy of the Fresno Chaffee Zoo

Fitness Trackers Aim To Improve The Health And Happiness Of Zoo Elephants

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This 52-million-year-old fossilized tomatillo was found in Patagonia, Argentina, shedding light on the origin of nightshade plants. In this specimen, the slender stalk is preserved, and the former papery and lobed husk is broken at top to reveal the large, fleshy berry underneath — now turned to coal. Peter Wilf, Penn State University hide caption

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Peter Wilf, Penn State University