|  Novel mechanism that helps stomach bug cause illness identified  | A seafood contaminant that thrives in brackish water during the summer works like a spy to infiltrate cells and quickly open communication channels to sicken the host, researchers report. | Read More » Intent to harm: Willful acts seem more damaging  | How harmful we perceive an act to be depends on whether we see the act as intentional, reveals new research. | Read More » Living longer, living healthier: People are remaining healthier later in life  | Based on data collected between 1991 and 2009 from almost 90,000 individuals who responded to the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, scientists say that, even as life expectancy has increased over the past two decades, people have become increasingly healthier later in life. | Read More » Higher cancer incidences found in regions near refineries and plants that release benzene  | The incidence of a particular type of blood cancer is significantly higher in regions near facilities that release the chemical benzene into the environment. | Read More » Borneo's orangutans are coming down from the trees  | Orangutans might be the king of the swingers, but primatologists in Borneo have found that the great apes spend a surprising amount of time walking on the ground. The research found that it is common for orangutans to come down from the trees to forage or to travel, a discovery which may have implications for conservation efforts. | Read More » Tuna and floating objects: Mysterious links  | More than 2 000 years ago, Roman fishermen already used the natural propensity of some species of fish to gather under floating objects, to enhance their catches in the Mediterranean. Today, numerous industrial and artisanal tuna fisheries around the world exploit this "aggregating phenomenon." Over the last thirty years, seine fishing in particular has developed rapidly through the use of massive floating objects, natural at first, then more recently fish aggregation devices (abbreviated to FAD) remotely monitored using electronic beacons. Today, these floating objects enable 40% of worldwide tropical tuna catches. | Read More » Young cannabis-smokers aware of the health risks  | 91 percent of on average 20-year-old Swiss men drink alcohol, almost half of whom drink six beverages or more in a row and are thus at-risk consumers. 44 percent of Swiss men smoke tobacco, the majority of whom are at-risk consumers – they smoke at least once a day. 36 percent of young adults smoke cannabis, whereby over half are at-risk consumers, using the drug at least twice a week. Researchers investigated whether these young Swiss men read up on addictive substances such as alcohol, tobacco, cannabis or other drugs and are aware and understand the risks of their consumption by conducting a survey of 12,000 men under a national cohort study as they were recruited for national service. | Read More » Cement converted into an electrical conductor  | Researchers have developed a cementitious material incorporating carbon nanofibers in its composition, turning cement into an excellent conductor of electricity capable of performing functions beyond its usual structural function. | Read More » Keeping your balance: Identification of key neurons that sense unexpected motion has significant implications for motion sickness  | It happens to all of us at least once each winter in Montreal. You're walking on the sidewalk and before you know it you are slipping on a patch of ice hidden under a dusting of snow. Sometimes you fall. Surprisingly often you manage to recover your balance and walk away unscathed. Researchers now understand what's going on in the brain when you manage to recover your balance in these situations. And it is not just a matter of good luck. | Read More » New study finds increase in nonfatal food-related choking among children in the U. S.  | Choking is a leading cause of injury among children, especially for children 4 years of age and younger. A new study examined nonfatal food-related choking among children 14 years of age or younger from 2001 through 2009. | Read More » Possible blood test for Alzheimer's disease?  | A new blood test can be used to discriminate between people with Alzheimer's disease and healthy controls. It's hoped the test could one day be used to help diagnose the disease and other degenerative disorders. Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, can only be diagnosed with certainty at autopsy, so the hunt is on to find reliable, non-invasive biomarkers for diagnosis in the living. | Read More » Cockatoos know what is going on behind barriers  | How do you know that the cookies are still there even though they have been placed in a cookie jar out-of-sight? Scientists show that "object permanence" abilities in a cockatoo rivals that of apes and four-year-old humans. | Read More » New whipray species identified by its DNA  | Biologists have analysed tissue samples of 115 spotted whiprays of the Himantura genus, collected in various parts of the Indio-Pacific region. By means of genetic markers -- as opposed to morphological criteria only -- the scientists were able to describe these leopard-skin whiprays in detail and demonstrate that they are isolated from each other in terms of reproduction. They have also discovered a new species that they call Himantura tutul, which belongs to a genetic line that is totally distinct from the three other species that are known in the same group: H. leoparda, H. uarnak and H. undulata. They frequent the same costal habitats but occupy different ecological niches. | Read More » Mystery deepens in coffin-within-a-coffin found at Richard III site  | Archaeologists have unearthed a mysterious coffin-within-a-coffin near the final resting place of Richard III. | Read More » Statins suppress Rett syndrome symptoms in mice  | Statins, a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs found in millions of medicine cabinets, may help treat Rett Syndrome, according to a new study. | Read More » When fluid dynamics mimic quantum mechanics  | Researchers expand the range of quantum behaviors that can be replicated in fluidic systems, offering a new perspective on wave-particle duality. | Read More » Pushing microscopy beyond standard limits  | Engineers have devised a method to convert a relatively inexpensive conventional microscope into a billion-pixel imaging system that significantly outperforms the best available standard microscope. Such a system could greatly improve the efficiency of digital pathology, in which specialists need to review large numbers of tissue samples. By making it possible to produce robust microscopes at low cost, the approach also has the potential to bring high-performance microscopy capabilities to medical clinics in developing countries. | Read More » See-through solar film: Researchers double efficiency of novel solar cell  | Nearly doubling the efficiency of a photovoltaic breakthrough made in 2012, researchers have developed a two-layer, see-through solar film that could be placed on building windows, sunroofs, smartphone displays and other surfaces to harvest energy from the sun. | Read More » Plant-based compound may inhibit HIV  | A compound found in soybeans may become an effective HIV treatment without the drug resistance issues faced by current therapies. | Read More » Tetrapod nanocrystals light the way to stronger polymers  | Researchers have developed advanced opto-mechanical stress probes based on tetrapod quantum dots (tQDs) that allow precise measurement of the tensile strength of polymer fibers with minimal impact on the polymer's mechanical properties. These fluorescent tQDs could lead to stronger, self-repairing polymer nanocomposites. | Read More » Like water for batteries: Water 'likeability' plays role in battery-charged objects  | Objects made from graphite -- such as lithium-ion batteries -- are "hydrophobic," meaning that they "dislike" water. For decades this lack of likeability has presented significant challenges in terms of building more durable technological devices made with graphite -- until now. | Read More » Diets lacking omega-3s lead to anxiety, hyperactivity in teens: Generational omega-3 deficiencies have worsening effects over time  | Diets lacking omega-3 fatty acids -- found in foods like wild fish, some eggs, and grass-fed livestock -- can have worsened effects over consecutive generations, especially affecting teens, according to a new study. | Read More » | |
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