|  Babies know when you're faking  | Psychology researchers demonstrate that infants can detect whether a person's emotions are justifiable given a particular context. | Read More » Empathy? Surprising study shows that brains process the pain of villains more than the pain of people we like  | A counterintuitive findings from a new study show that the part of the brain that is associated with empathizing with the pain of others is activated more strongly by watching the suffering of hateful people as opposed to likable people. | Read More » When neurons have less to say, they speak up  | The brain is an extremely adaptable organ – but it is also quite conservative. That's in short, what scientists are now able to show. Researchers have found that neurons in the brain regulate their own activity in such a way that the overall activity level in the network remains as constant as possible. This remains true even in the event of major changes. | Read More » 'Individualized' therapy for the brain targets specific gene mutations causing dementia, ALS  | Scientists have developed new drugs that — at least in a laboratory dish — appear to halt the brain-destroying impact of a genetic mutation at work in some forms of two incurable diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and dementia. | Read More » Rare gene mutation sheds light on protein's role in brain development  | Though worlds apart, four unrelated families have been united in a medical mystery over the source of a rare inherited disorder that results in their children being born with abnormal brain growth and severe functional impairments. | Read More » Warning against Wi-Fi in cars: Drivers will be too distracted even if devices are voice-operated, study shows  | Plans to provide high-speed Internet access in vehicles, announced last month in North America could do with some sobering second-thought, says a psychology professor in a new study on the impact of auditory distractions on visual attention. | Read More » Without plants, Earth would cook under billions of tons of additional carbon  | Researchers found that Earth's terrestrial ecosystems have absorbed 186 billion to 192 billion tons of carbon since the mid-20th century, which has significantly contained the global temperature and levels of carbon in the atmosphere. | Read More » What makes a data visualization memorable?  | "Chart junk" -- the noisy visual elements that attract criticism in design circles -- can help make a data visualization more memorable. And the chart types we learned about in school (bar graphs, pie charts, etc.) are not the easiest to recall. | Read More » Drones open way to new world of coral research  | Camera-equipped flying robots promise new insights into climate change effects on important ecosystems. | Read More » New soil testing kit for third world countries  | Researchers have developed a new soil testing kit designed to help farmers in third world countries. On-the-spot soil testing could have major impact in improving crop yields due to poor soils, and can test for the availability of nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and potassium, as well as active organic matter, and certain soil physical limitations. The raw results of the tests are sent by cell phone to a central website where calculations are made and recommendations are delivered back to the extension agent. | Read More » Working to the beat  | Scientists have contributed significantly towards a first explanation for the development of music. Contrary to what was previously suspected, music does not simply distract us when physically working hard by making the work seem a lot easier, but actually the music reduces the effort. This new insight permits on the one hand a conclusion to human's historical development of music, and on the other hand provides an important impulse for the expansion of the therapeutical use of music. | Read More » Toward a urine test for detecting blood clots  | Detecting dangerous blood clots, which can cause life-threatening conditions such as strokes and heart attacks, leading causes of death for men and women in the US, has been a coveted and elusive goal. But scientists are now reporting progress in the form of a simple urine test. | Read More » Worldwide database of brain images for chronic-pain conditions  | A new database featuring hundreds of brain scans and other key clinical information will help researchers tease out similarities and differences between these and many other chronic-pain conditions, helping to accelerate research and treatment development. | Read More » For celebrated frog hops, scientists look to Calaveras pros  | The Calaveras County Jumping Frog Jubilee has entered the scientific record via a new article. Experienced bullfrog "jockeys" at the event routinely get their frogs to jump much farther than researchers had ever measured in the lab. How? Decades of refined technique, uncommonly motivated humans and herps, and good old-fashioned large sample size. | Read More » Avian influenza virus detection using smell  | New research reveals that avian influenza, which typically is asymptomatic, can be detected based on odor changes in infected birds. The results suggest a rapid and simple detection method to help prevent the spread of influenzas in avian populations. | Read More » As chimpanzees grow, so does yawn contagion  | As sanctuary-kept chimpanzees grow from infant to juvenile, they develop increased susceptibility to human yawn contagion, possibility due to their increasing ability to empathize. | Read More » Barley crops affected by disease found on common wild grass  | A major fungal pathogen which affects barley crops is also present on a common wild grass according to a new study. | Read More » Chimpanzees: Alarm calls with intent?  | Major research led by University of York scientists has discovered remarkable similarities between the production of vocalisations of wild chimpanzees and human language. | Read More » Flower research shows gardens can be a feast for the eyes – and the bees  | Are our favorite garden flowers attractive to hungry visitors such as bees and butterflies to feed on? | Read More » Sun's magnetic field going to flip soon: 11-year solar cycle wimpy, but peaking  | In a 3-meter diameter hollow aluminum sphere, a physics professor is stirring and heating plasmas to 500,000 degrees Fahrenheit to experimentally mimic the magnetic field-inducing cosmic dynamos at the heart of planets, stars and other celestial bodies. | Read More » Blood pressure drugs decrease risk of Alzheimer's disease  | An analysis of data previously gathered on more than 3,000 elderly Americans strongly suggests that taking certain blood pressure medications to control blood pressure may reduce the risk of dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. | Read More » Separating the good from the bad in bacteria  | New microfluidic technique quickly distinguishes bacteria within the same strain; could improve monitoring of cystic fibrosis and other diseases. | Read More » Rapid blood test to diagnose sepsis at the bedside could save thousands of lives  | Researchers have identified a biomarker -- a biological 'fingerprint' -- for sepsis in the blood, and showed it could be possible to diagnose the condition within two hours by screening for this biomarker at a patient's bedside. | Read More » New way to treat chronic kidney disease and heart failure  | Researchers are using adult bone marrow stem cells as they investigate a completely new way of treating chronic kidney disease and heart failure in rats. | Read More » Elusive secret of HIV long-term immunity  | Scientists have discovered a long sought, critical new clue about why some people are able to control the HIV virus long term without taking antiviral drugs. The finding may be useful in shortening drug treatment for everyone else with HIV. These rare individuals have an extra helping of an immune protein that blocks HIV from spreading within the body by turning it into an impotent wimp. Earlier treatment could protect reserves of the critical protein for everyone. | Read More » Bacteria-eating viruses 'magic bullets in the war on superbugs'  | A specialist team of scientists from the University of Leicester has isolated viruses that eat bacteria -- called phages -- to specifically target the highly infectious hospital superbug Clostridium difficile (C. diff). | Read More » Neanderthals used toothpicks to alleviate the pain of diseases related to teeth, such as inflammation of the gums  | Removing food scraps trapped between the teeth one of the most common functions of using toothpicks, thus contributing to our oral hygiene. This habit is documented in the genus Homo, as early as Homo habilis, a species that lived between 1.9 and 1.6 million years ago. New research based on the Cova Foradà Neanderthal fossil shows that this hominid also used toothpicks to mitigate pain caused by oral diseases such as inflammation of the gums (periodontal disease). It is the oldest documented case of palliative treatment of dental disease done with this tool. | Read More » Physical activity in parks can been boosted by modest marketing  | A new study finds that physical activity in parks can be increased significantly by making modest investments in marketing, such as improve signage. The strategy included working with park users and neighbors to develop a coherent plan. | Read More » Uncovering liquid foam's bubbly acoustics  | Liquid foams fascinate toddlers singing in a bubble bath. Physicists, too, have an interest in their acoustical properties. Borrowing from both porous material and foam science, scientists studied liquid foams. They used an impedance tube to measure the velocity and attenuation of acoustic waves in liquid foams in a broad frequency range. | Read More » Glacial history affects shape and growth habit of alpine plants  | During the Ice Ages the European Alps were covered by a thick layer of ice. Climate fluctuations led to great changes in the occurrences of plants: They survived the cold periods in refugia on the periphery of the Alps which they then repopulated after the ice had drawn back. Such processes in the history of the earth can be detected by molecular analysis as genetic fingerprints: refugia and colonization routes can be identified as genetic groups within the plant species. Thus, the postglacial colonization history of alpine plants is still borne in plants alive today. | Read More » Fat black holes grown up in 'cities': 'Observational result using virtual observatory  | Massive black holes of more than one million solar masses exist at the center of most galaxies. Some of the massive black holes are observed as active galactic nuclei (AGN) which attract surrounding gas and release huge amounts of energy. | Read More » Sun and photocatalysts will clean polluted water, cheaply and quickly  | A little amount of appropriately prepared powder is poured in water polluted with phenol and cellulose. A bit of the sun and after fifteen minutes harmful compounds disappear, and the powder can be filtered off and reused. Sounds like a fairy tale? Perhaps, but it is not magic, only a masterly use of chemistry and physics. | Read More » Activating proteins in brain by shining LED light on them  | With the flick of a light switch, researchers can change the shape of a protein in the brain of a mouse, turning on the protein at the precise moment they want. This allows the scientists to observe the exact effect of the protein's activation. The new method relies on specially engineered amino acids -- the molecules that make up proteins -- and light from an LED. Now that it has been shown to work, the technique can be adapted to give researchers control of a wide variety of other proteins in the brain to study their functions. | Read More » U. S. regions exhibit distinct personalities, research reveals  | Americans with similar temperaments are so likely to live in the same areas that a map of the country can be divided into regions with distinct personalities, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. | Read More » The cost of racial bias in economic decisions  | When financial gain depends on cooperation, we might expect that people would put aside their differences and focus on the bottom line. But new research suggests that people's racial biases make them more likely to leave money on the table when a windfall is not split evenly between groups. | Read More » A stunning new species of dragon tree discovered in Thailand  | Scientists have discovered a highly distinctive and endangered new dragon tree species -- Dracaena kaweesakii. The new species grows to an impressive 12 m and has soft, sword-shaped leaves with white edges and cream flowers with bright orange filaments. Due to its extensive branching and attractive appearance this dragon tree species is often used as an ornamental plant in Thailand. | Read More » Images and video move by touch from one smartphone to another tablet  | Scientists have developed technology whereby a ring, structure nail or wristband acts as a user interface allowing files to be transferred directly from one screen to another by touch. The new technical solution is the first step towards the interactivity of various objects and jewellery through a cloud service. | Read More » Female doctors better than male doctors, but males are more productive  | The quality of care provided by female doctors is higher than that of their male counterparts while the productivity of males is greater, new research shows. The research team reached this conclusion by studying the billing information of over 870 Quebec practitioners (half of whom were women) relating to their procedures with elderly diabetic patients. | Read More » Archaeologists rediscover the lost home of the last Neanderthals  | A record of Neanderthal archaeology, thought to be long lost, has been re-discovered by scientists working in the Channel island of Jersey. | Read More » Most distant gravitational lens helps weigh galaxies  | Astronomers have found the most distant gravitational lens yet -- a galaxy that, as predicted by Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, deflects and intensifies the light of an even more distant object. The discovery provides a rare opportunity to directly measure the mass of a distant galaxy. But it also poses a mystery: lenses of this kind should be exceedingly rare. | Read More » Marmoset monkeys know polite conversation  | Humans aren't the only species that knows how to carry on polite conversation. Marmoset monkeys, too, will engage one another for up to 30 minutes at a time in vocal turn-taking. | Read More » Next-generation gene sequencing can identify invasive carp species  | A project to map the microbes present in the digestive systems of fish species holds promise for monitoring the presence of Asian carp in Chicago area waterways and ultimately preventing their spread, according to a study. | Read More » Scientists show Heisenberg's intuition correct  | An international team of scientists has provided proof of a key feature of quantum physics -- Heisenberg's error-disturbance relation -- more than 80 years after it was first suggested. | Read More » A grand unified theory of exotic superconductivity?  | Scientists introduce a general theoretical approach that describes all known forms of high-temperature superconductivity and their "intertwined" phases. | Read More » Bird study finds key info about human speech-language development  | A study has shown for the first time how two tiny molecules regulate a gene implicated in speech and language impairments as well as autism disorders, and that social context of vocal behavior governs their function. | Read More » The complicated birth of a volcano  | They are difficult to reach, have hardly been studied scientifically, and their existence does not fit into current geological models: the Marie Byrd Seamounts off the coast of Antarctica present many riddles to volcanologists. Scientists have just published possible explanations for the origin of these former volcanoes. | Read More » Brain scans show unusual activity in retired American football players  | A new study has discovered profound abnormalities in brain activity in a group of retired American football players. Although the former players in the study were not diagnosed with any neurological condition, brain imaging tests revealed unusual activity that correlated with how many times they had left the field with a head injury during their careers. | Read More » | |
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