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Most people become aware of their internal circadian clock when they cross several time zones and experience jet lag, but scientists have known for decades that the rhythm of the internal human clock regulates almost every biological system, from blood pressure to sex drive.

To the average American, it might seem ludicrous to suggest that the United States is not in a recession right now. But economists' fuzzy definition of the term makes it hard to say when a recession actually starts until we're well into one.

Chimpanzees are known to form bands to hunt and kill other monkeys. But bonobos, another primate closely related to humans and chimps, were thought to be confine their hunting to forest antelopes, squirrels and rodents.

Who would make a better president - a man with more than 30 years of experience in Congress or one with about six?

Lights may soon do more than just shine in dark places - they might wirelessly connect your computer, phone or car to the Internet.

The dawn of the internet and the Information Age generated tremendous new demand for power, as companies built their own networks and shifted to computer-based operations. Additionally, as technology shrinks to more portable proportions, more and more of that power will come from batteries.

Guys, if you're trying to lay blame for your pitiful mid-life crisis, some good news: Scientists have found that premature ejaculation is not all in your head. In fact, the propensity is genetically determined.

Banded mongooses live in extended-family groups, with as many as ten females breeding at the same time. When they're about a month old, pups leave the communal den to forage with the adults. That's when a pup usually begins to associate exclusively with one particular adult - not necessarily a parent - that provides nourishment and protection. One might assume that the adult chooses the pup it wishes to assist.

America has always been a cultural melting pot, but that pot has always been kept at a rolling bubble by the heat of xenophobia. And sometimes it boils over causing great damage. Every generation of citizens, many of them immigrants themselves or of recent immigrant ancestry, is afraid of the next wave of others looking for a better life. The fear has always been that those "other" people, the ones who are invading this country, will pollute the gene pool and degrade the culture in some manner. ...

Most Americans believe the current financial crisis poses a greater threat than terrorism.

This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation.

A dismal economy coupled with mounting federal debt and expected cuts to science and technology spending threaten to unseat the United States as the reigning superpower of the world.

When candidates square off in debates, the truth seems to get stretched at least a few times, at minimum.

The economy is in bad shape, as the pundits have coined it, "from Wall Street to Main Street." Anyone following the news has some idea of what that may mean for their retirement savings and home loans, but what about the less obvious effects of social and economic hardship?

We know our siblings and in-laws have personalities - sometimes to a fault. But science recently has revealed that such individual differences are widespread in the animal kingdom, even reaching to spiders, birds, mice, squid, rats and pigs.

An Atlantic blacktip shark named Tidbit showed no signs of being pregnant, and she hadn't even mated. So scientists were surprised during an autopsy of the now deceased shark to find she had been carrying a baby.

In a high-tech version of those baking soda-and-vinegar experiments at science fairs, scientists have simulated a key stage of volcanic eruptions where steam and other fluids rushing through cracks in underground rocks create particular "acoustic emissions."

The presidential candidates say they connect with and "get" the American middle-class. And the government's bailout plan for Wall Street has been billed as the best way to help Main Street keep its white picket fences.

Brachiosaurs and other long-necked giants of the dinosaur world weighed as much as 10 African elephants. Researchers now think they know why the tubby vegetarian beasts got so big: They swallowed high-energy foods whole.

Babies as young as 5 months can distinguish an upbeat tune, such as "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, from a lineup of gloomy tunes.

The busy beaver's iconic dams do more than hold back streams; they also provide critical habitat to some migratory songbirds, a new study finds.

Scientists have discovered mystery snippets of mammal DNA that have survived eons of evolution and yet have no apparent purpose. The finding reveals just how much we don't know about the secrets hidden in our genome and that of other animals.

Cultures around the world and through time have had wildly varying ways of dealing with the dead. And since death weighs so heavy on a culture and is ultimately so mysterious, records of these practices, or "deathways," are often more abundant than other ancient cultural accounts and provide illuminating windows into other cultures.

Swarms of fish have been filmed swimming in one of the world's deepest ocean trenches, nearly five miles (nearly eight kilometers) below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

Editor's Note: Each Wednesday LiveScience examines the viability of emerging energy technologies - the power of the future.

Pterodactyls may have gone extinct millions of years ago, but a newly designed spy plane could bring the flying reptiles to life, albeit replacing blood and guts with carbon fiber and batteries.

Narcissists like to be in charge, so it stands to reason that a new study shows individuals who are overconfident about their abilities are most likely to step in as leaders, be they politicians or power brokers.

I recently heard that Chuck Norris can divide by zero, and that his house has no doors-only walls he walks through. If the hype is to be believed, Chuck Norris can do anything.