Today's Science News

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Featured Research

from universities, journals, and other organizations

Intelligent People Are More Likely to Trust Others

Mar. 16, 2014 — Intelligent people are more likely to trust others, while those who score lower on measures of intelligence are less likely to do so, says a new study. Researchers based their finding on an analysis ... full story

Contagious Yawning a Mystery: May Not Be Linked to Empathy After All

Mar. 14, 2014 — While previous studies have suggested a connection between contagious yawning and empathy, new research finds that contagious yawning may decrease with age and is not strongly related to variables ... full story

Little Foot Is Oldest Complete Australopithecus, New Stratigraphic Research Shows

Mar. 14, 2014 — After 13 years of meticulous excavation of the nearly complete skeleton of the Australopithecus fossil named Little Foot, South African and French scientists have now convincingly shown that it is ... full story

Human Brains 'Hard-Wired' to Link What We See With What We Do

Mar. 13, 2014 — Your brain's ability to instantly link what you see with what you do is down to a dedicated information 'highway,' suggests new research. For the first time, researchers have found ... full story

Africans' Ability to Digest Milk Linked to Spread of Cattle Raising

Mar. 13, 2014 — A new study -- constituting the largest investigation ever of lactose tolerance in geographically diverse populations of Africans -- investigated the genetic origins of this trait and offers support ... full story

Do Elephants Call 'Human!'? Low Rumble Alarm Call in Response to the Sound of Human Voices

Mar. 16, 2014 — African elephants make a specific alarm call in response to the danger of humans, according to a new study of wild elephants in Kenya. Researchers carried out a series of audio experiments in which ... full story

A Battery That 'Breathes' Could Power Next-Gen Electric Vehicles

Mar. 16, 2014 — Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) nearly doubled in 2013, but most won't take you farther than 100 miles on one charge. To boost their range toward a tantalizing 300 miles or more, researchers ... full story

Harnessing Everyday Motion to Power Mobile Devices

Mar. 16, 2014 — Imagine powering your cell phone by simply walking around your office or rubbing it with the palm of your hand. Rather than plugging it into the wall, you become the power source. Scientists were ... full story

Understanding How Mountains and Rivers Make Life Possible

Mar. 13, 2014 — Scientists have devised a pair of math equations that better describe how the topography and rock composition of a landscape affects the process by which carbon dioxide is transferred to oceans and ... full story

Atomically Thick Metal Membranes

Mar. 14, 2014 — For the first time researchers have shown that freestanding metal membranes consisting of a single layer of atoms can be stable under ambient conditions. The success and promise of atomically thin ... full story

Patients With Schizophrenia Have Impaired Ability to Imitate, Brain Mapping Confirms

Mar. 14, 2014 — A brain-mapping study of patients with schizophrenia has found that areas associated with the ability to imitate are impaired, providing new support for the theory that deficits in this basic ... full story

Nanoscale Optical Switch Breaks Miniaturization Barrier

Mar. 13, 2014 — An ultra-fast and ultra-small optical switch has been invented that could advance the day when photons replace electrons in the innards of consumer products ranging from cell phones to automobiles. ... full story

Autism, Intellectual Disability Incidence Linked With Environmental Factors

Mar. 13, 2014 — An analysis of 100 million US medical records reveals that autism and intellectual disability rates correlate with genital malformation incidence in newborn males, an indicator exposure to harmful ... full story

Roomy Cages Built from DNA Could One Day Deliver Drugs, Devices

Mar. 13, 2014 — A set of self-assembling DNA cages one-tenth as wide as a bacterium have been created by scientists. These DNA nanostructures are some of the largest and most complex structures ever constructed ... full story

Turning Raw Natural Gas Into Upgraded Liquid Alcohol Fuel

Mar. 13, 2014 — Chemists have discovered of a new way to turn raw natural gas into upgraded liquid alcohol fuel. The process uses ordinary 'main group' metals like thallium and lead to trigger the ... full story

Featured Videos

from AP, Reuters, AFP, and other news services
Yawning Is More Contagious For The Young, Study Says

Yawning Is More Contagious For The Young, Study Says

Newsy (Mar. 15, 2014) — A recent study has found a link between age and yawning, in which increased age lessens the chances of "catching" someone else's yawn. Video provided by Newsy
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Remains Of Tiny T. Rex Discovered In Alaska

Remains Of Tiny T. Rex Discovered In Alaska

Newsy (Mar. 15, 2014) — Researchers believe the Nanuqsaurus holundi, nicknamed "polar bear lizard," measured about 25 feet long. Video provided by Newsy
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A Black Hole Might Be Eating A Gas Cloud

A Black Hole Might Be Eating A Gas Cloud

Newsy (Mar. 14, 2014) — Something never-before-seen is going on in space right now. A supermassive black hole could swallow a gas cloud. Video provided by Newsy
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5-Second Rule Backed Up By Science

5-Second Rule Backed Up By Science

Newsy (Mar. 14, 2014) — Researchers at Aston University in England studied how quickly food picks up bacteria when it's on the floor. Video provided by Newsy
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last updated on 2014-03-16 at 4:28 pm EDT

Top Health News

jump to:    Health  |  Tech  |  Enviro  |  Society

Specialized Care Improves Treatment Outcomes in Patients With Sleep Apnea

Mar. 14, 2014 — Treatment outcomes were better when sleep apnea patients received care from sleep specialists and accredited sleep centers, a new study has found. Patient satisfaction also was associated with ... full story

Tension Triggers Muscle Building

Mar. 14, 2014 — Skeletal muscles are built from small contractile units, the sarcomeres. They are connected in a well-ordered series to form myofibrils that span the entire muscle. Contractions of these sarcomeres ... full story

Older Age at Onset of Type 1 Diabetes Associated With Lower Brain Connectivity

Mar. 14, 2014 — Children and adolescents older than age 8 at the onset of type 1 diabetes had weaker brain connectivity when tested later in life relative to those who had earlier ages of diagnosis, researchers have ... full story

New Nanoparticle That Only Attacks Cervical Cancer Cells

Mar. 14, 2014 — One of the most promising technologies for the treatment of various cancers is nanotechnology, creating drugs that directly attack the cancer cells without damaging other tissues’ development. ... full story

Years of High School Football Not Linked to Neurocognitive Decline, Study Suggests

Mar. 14, 2014 — As more parents consider whether it’s safe for adolescents to play football, a new study of high school players found no link between years of play and any decline in neurocognitive function. The ... full story

Significant Increase in Painkillers Prescribed to U.S. Adults Visiting Emergency Departments

Mar. 14, 2014 — Researchers report dramatic increases in prescriptions of opioid analgesics, such as Percocet, Vicodin, oxycodone and Dilaudid, during U.S. emergency department visits from 2001 to 2010. These ... full story

In the Lab, Scientists Coax E. Coli to Resist Radiation Damage

Mar. 14, 2014 — Capitalizing on the ability of an organism to evolve in response to punishment from a hostile environment, scientists have coaxed the model bacterium Escherichia coli to dramatically resist ionizing ... full story

Genes May Thwart Seniors' Exercise Gains

Mar. 14, 2014 — The ACE I/D gene and how its variations -- the ID, DD, and II genotypes -- cause some seniors' to lose out on the benefits of exercise, new research shows. These findings suggest that the ACE I/D ... full story

Blood Poisoning Increases the Risk of Blood Clots, New Research Shows

Mar. 14, 2014 — The world's largest study of the correlation between blood poisoning and the risk of blood clots is underway. In recent years there has been a growing level of interest for the correlation between ... full story

Link Between Diabetes, Pancreatic Cancer Found

Mar. 14, 2014 — There is an association between pancreatic cancer and diabetes, new research indicates. While the numbers of pancreatic cancer in the population are relatively low, the study suggests a screening ... full story

Patient Requests for Specific Drugs Have Major Impact on Prescribing, Reports Study

Mar. 14, 2014 — Patient requests for specific medications -- including requests for brand-name drugs spurred by direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising -- have a substantial impact on doctors' prescribing decisions, ... full story

Drivers With Hemianopia Fail to Detect Pedestrians, Study Shows

Mar. 14, 2014 — A diagnosis of hemianopia, or blindness in one-half of the visual field in both eyes as the result of strokes, tumors or trauma often means the end of driving. Researchers set out to determine the ... full story

Critical Role of One Gene to Our Brain Development

Mar. 14, 2014 — A gene linked to intellectual disability is critical to the earliest stages of the development of human brains, new research has confirmed. An international research team explains in a new paper how ... full story

Blood Test Identifies Brain Damage from Concussion in Ice Hockey

Mar. 14, 2014 — Half way into last year's season, 35 of 288 players in the Swedish Hockey League had already had a concussion. Researchers who surveyed all of the players in the league's 12 clubs, have now developed ... full story

Emotion Detectors Could Make Driving Safer

Mar. 13, 2014 — Technology now allows us to read facial expressions and identify which of the seven universal emotions a person is feeling: fear, anger, joy, sadness, disgust, surprise, or suspicion. This is very ... full story

Languages Written to Design Synthetic Living Systems Useful for New Products, Health Care

Mar. 13, 2014 — A computer-aided design tool has been developed to create genetic languages to guide the design of biological systems. Known as GenoCAD, the open-source software was developed by researchers to help ... full story

Stroke Survivors May Lose Month of Healthy Life for 15-Minute Delay in Treatment

Mar. 13, 2014 — Every 15-minute delay in delivering a clot-busting drug after stroke robs survivors of an average month of healthy life. Streamlining the time from symptom onset to clot-busting treatment by just one ... full story

Husband's Health, Attitude Loom Large for Happy Long-Term Marriages

Mar. 13, 2014 — A husband’s agreeable personality and good health appear crucial to preventing conflict among older couples who have been together a long time, according to a study. The report found that such ... full story

Halting Immune Response Could Save Brain Cells After Stroke

Mar. 13, 2014 — A new study in animals shows that using a compound to block the body’s immune response greatly reduces disability after a stroke. The study also showed that particular immune cells -- CD4+ T-cells ... full story

Stirring the Simmering 'Designer Baby' Pot

Mar. 13, 2014 — From genetic and genomic testing to new techniques in human assisted reproduction, various technologies are providing parents with more of a say about the children they have and 'stirring the pot of ... full story

Older Adults: Build Muscle and You'll Live Longer

Mar. 14, 2014 — The more muscle mass older Americans have, the less likely they are to die prematurely, new research shows. The findings add to the growing evidence that overall body composition -- and not the ... full story

Higher Exposure to Take-out Food Could Double the Odds of Being Obese

Mar. 13, 2014 — People exposed to take-out food restaurants around their home, at work and on their way to work are more likely to consume more of these foods, as well as being more likely to be obese, suggest a new ... full story

You Should Be Ashamed -- Or Maybe Not

Mar. 13, 2014 — Shame on you. These three simple words can temporarily -- or, when used too often, permanently -- destroy an individual's sense of value and ... full story

One out of Two Parents Do Not See Their Child's Weight Problem

Mar. 13, 2014 — One out of two parents of children with overweight feel that their child's weight is normal. Four out of ten parents of children with overweight or obesity are even worried that their child will get ... full story

Performing Cardio, Resistance Training During Same Session: Does Order Matter? Research Says No

Mar. 13, 2014 — Although the remarkable benefits of combined training have been clarified by numerous investigations, fitness enthusiasts struggle with the same question: Does the order of cardio and resistance ... full story

Gestational Diabetes May Raise Risk for Heart Disease in Midlife

Mar. 12, 2014 — Pregnant women may face an increased risk of early heart disease if they develop gestational diabetes. Early screening and intervention is important to identify later heart disease risk for these ... full story

Nicotine Withdrawal Weakens Brain Connections Tied to Self-Control Over Cigarette Cravings

Mar. 12, 2014 — A new brain imaging study shows how smokers suffering from nicotine withdrawal may have more trouble shifting from a key brain network—known as default mode, when people are in a so-called ... full story

Could Grapefruit Be Good for Your Kidneys?

Mar. 12, 2014 — A natural product found in grapefruit can prevent kidney cysts from forming, new research indicates. Naringenin, which is also present in other citrus fruits, has been found to successfully block the ... full story

Large Waist Linked to Poor Health, Even Among Those in Healthy Body Mass Index Ranges

Mar. 12, 2014 — Having a big belly has consequences beyond trouble squeezing into your pants. It’s detrimental to your health, even if you have a healthy body mass index (BMI), a new international collaborative ... full story

Nicotine Patches Do Not Appear to Help Pregnant Smokers to Quit, Study Shows

Mar. 11, 2014 — Nicotine patches do not appear to help pregnant smokers to quit, according to a study. Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes and may have long lasting ... full story

Top Physical & Tech News

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Brighter Inks, Without Pigment: Nanostructured Capsules Could Bring About Paints and Electronic Displays That Never Fade

Mar. 14, 2014 — Encapsulated nanoparticles can create bright colors by amplifying particular wavelengths of light. These microcapsules could offer a new, non-toxic and long-lasting source of color for paints and ... full story

Big Data Tackles Tiny Molecular Machines

Mar. 14, 2014 — Open, feed, cut. Such is the humdrum life of a motor molecule that eats and excretes damaged proteins and turns them into harmless peptides for disposal. The why is obvious: Without these trash bins, ... full story

Recovering Metals and Minerals from Waste

Mar. 14, 2014 — Scarcity of clean water is one of the most serious global challenges. Scientists have now developed energy-efficient methods for reuse of water in industrial processes and means for recovering ... full story

An Experiment Recreates the Crust of Jupiter's Moon Europa

Mar. 14, 2014 — Water, salts and gases dissolved in the huge ocean that scientists believe could exist below Europa´s icy crust can rise to the surface generating the enigmatic geological formations associated to ... full story

Innovative Solar-Powered Toilet Ready for India Unveiling

Mar. 13, 2014 — A revolutionary toilet fueled by the sun that is being developed to help some of the 2.5 billion people around the world lacking safe and sustainable sanitation will be unveiled in India this month. ... full story

Better Way to Make Unnatural Amino Acids Devised

Mar. 13, 2014 — Chemists have devised a greatly improved technique for making amino acids not found in nature. These “unnatural” amino acids traditionally have been very difficult to synthesize, but are sought ... full story

'Super Circles' to Lessen Rush-Hour Traffic Congestion

Mar. 13, 2014 — While Mother Nature continues to challenge drivers across the country, a team of traffic engineers is working hard on a new way to make rush-hour commutes safer and faster in any weather. A "super ... full story

Graphene-Metal Sandwich: Combining Graphene and Copper May Shrink Electronics

Mar. 13, 2014 — Researchers have discovered that creating a graphene-copper-graphene 'sandwich' strongly enhances the heat conducting properties of copper, a discovery that could further help in the downscaling of ... full story

Oxygen's Different Shapes Described

Mar. 13, 2014 — Oxygen-16, one of the key elements of life on Earth, is produced by a series of reactions inside of red giant stars. Now physicists have revealed how the element's nuclear shape changes depending on ... full story

Cancer Stem Cells Destroyed With Cryoablation and Nanoparticle-Encapsulated Anticancer Drug

Mar. 13, 2014 — Combining nanodrug-based chemotherapy and cryoablation provides an effective strategy to eliminate cancer stem-like cells -- the root of cancer resistance and metastasis, which will help to improve ... full story

Lunar Crater Counting Shows Crowdsourcing Is Accurate Tool

Mar. 13, 2014 — A new study showed that as a group, volunteer counters who examined a particular patch of lunar real estate using NASA images did just as well in identifying individual craters as professional crater ... full story

A Brake for Spinning Molecules: Precise Control of Rotational Temperature of Molecular Ions for Lab-Based Astrochemistry

Mar. 13, 2014 — Chemical reactions taking place in outer space can now be more easily studied on Earth. Scientists discovered an efficient and versatile way of braking the rotation of molecular ions. The spinning ... full story

VLT Spots Largest Yellow Hypergiant Star: Mix of New and Old Observations Reveals Exotic Binary System

Mar. 12, 2014 — The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope has revealed the largest yellow star -- and one of the 10 largest stars found so far. This hypergiant has been found to measure more than ... full story

Students' Space Experiment Recovered from Arctic Circle

Mar. 12, 2014 — A team of students has recovered crucial data from an innovative experiment that could reduce the cost of space construction -- with help from Swedish ... full story

Saturn and Jupiter: X-Ray Laser Spies Deep Into Giant Gas Planets

Mar. 11, 2014 — Using DESY's X-ray laser FLASH, researchers took a sneak peek deep into the lower atmospheric layers of giant gas planets such as Jupiter or Saturn. The observations reveal how liquid hydrogen ... full story

Milky Way Amidst a 'Council of Giants'

Mar. 11, 2014 — We live in a galaxy known as the Milky Way -- a vast conglomeration of 300 billion stars, planets whizzing around them, and clouds of gas and dust floating in between. Though it has long been known ... full story

Galaxies in the Early Universe Mature Beyond Their Years

Mar. 10, 2014 — An international team of researchers has discovered the most distant examples of galaxies in the early universe that were already mature and massive. The mature galaxies were found at a ... full story

Possible Evidence for Dark Matter Particle Presented at UCLA Physics Symposium

Mar. 10, 2014 — Dark matter, the mysterious substance estimated to make up approximately more than one-quarter of the mass of the universe, is crucial to the formation of galaxies, stars and even life but has so far ... full story

'Death Stars' in Orion Blast Planets Before They Even Form

Mar. 10, 2014 — Astronomers have studied the often deadly relationship between highly luminous O-type stars and nearby protostars in the Orion Nebula. Their data reveal that protostars within 0.1 light-years (about ... full story

Weirdness in Cosmic Web of the Universe: Faint Strings of Galaxies in 'Empty' Space Arranged in Way Never Before Seen

Mar. 10, 2014 — Australian astronomers have shown galaxies in the vast empty regions of the universe are actually aligned into delicate strings, according to new research. Using data from the Galaxy and Mass ... full story

When Big Isn't Better: How the Flu Bug Bit Google

Mar. 13, 2014 — Numbers and data can be critical tools in bringing complex issues into focus. The understanding of diseases, for example, benefits from algorithms that help monitor their spread. But without context, ... full story

Equation to Describe Competition Between Genes

Mar. 13, 2014 — Biologists typically conduct experiments first, and then develop models afterward to show how data fit with theory. New research flips that practice on its head. A biophysicist tackles questions in ... full story

Soft Robotic Fish Moves Like the Real Thing: New Robotic Fish Can Change Direction Almost as Rapidly as a Real Fish

Mar. 13, 2014 — Soft robots don't just have soft exteriors but are also powered by fluid flowing through flexible channels. Researchers now report the first self-contained autonomous soft robot capable of rapid body ... full story

Exchange Rate Behaves Like Particles in a Molecular Fluid

Mar. 13, 2014 — The swings in market prices and exchange rates have the same foundations as molecule movements in physics. This has been demonstrated by a team of scientists from Switzerland and ... full story

Enabling Next-Generation Wireless Networks

Mar. 13, 2014 — A modulator that converts an electrical signal into an optical signal could enable faster wireless data transmission. Wireless transmission at microwave frequencies is important for high-data-rate ... full story

Ensuring Solid-State Drives Are Up to Scratch: Data Buffering Scheme Improves Performance of Solid-State Drives

Mar. 13, 2014 — A data buffering scheme improves the performance of solid-state drives in large-scale, data-intensive applications. Solid-state drives (SSDs) store digital information using electronic circuits. The ... full story

3-D X-Ray Film: Rapid Movements in Real Time

Mar. 13, 2014 — How does the hip joint of a crawling weevil move? A technique to record 3-D X-ray films showing the internal movement dynamics in a spatially precise manner and, at the same time, in the temporal ... full story

New Wireless Network to Revolutionize Soil Testing

Mar. 12, 2014 — A revolutionary sensor that can carry out non-destructive testing of soil samples has been developed by researchers. The sensor is capable of measuring the chloride (salt) in the soil moisture and ... full story

Signal Control With Light Frequencies

Mar. 12, 2014 — Light waves have the potential to boost the efficiency of conventional electronics by a factor of 100,000. Researchers describe how this vision may one day become a reality. In their scenario, one ... full story

Quantum Physics Secures New Cryptography Scheme

Mar. 12, 2014 — The way we secure digital transactions could soon change. An international team has demonstrated a form of quantum cryptography that can protect people doing business with others they may not know or ... full story

Top Environment News

jump to:    Health  |  Tech  |  Enviro  |  Society

Lurking in the Darkness of Chinese Caves, Five New Species of Armored Spiders Come to Light

Mar. 14, 2014 — Armored spiders are medium to small species that derive their name from the complex pattern of the plates covering their abdomen strongly resembling body armor. Lurking in the darkness of caves In ... full story

Motion, Muscles Don't Always Work in Lockstep, Researchers Find in Surprising New Study

Mar. 14, 2014 — Animals 'do the locomotion' every day, whether it's walking down the hall to get some coffee or darting up a tree to avoid a predator. And until now, scientists believed the inner workings of ... full story

New Cell Line Should Accelerate Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Mar. 14, 2014 — A new line of human embryonic stem cells that have the ability to develop into a far broader range of tissues than most existing cell lines has been created by researchers. The cells, called naïve ... full story

Impacts of Climate Change in Switzerland: Adaptation and Climate Change Mitigation Must Go Hand in Hand

Mar. 14, 2014 — Southern Switzerland emerges as a hotspot of the effects of climate change. And the bark beetle is putting spruces all over Switzerland under increasing pressure, because an additional generation of ... full story

Fighting for Oral Dominance: Good Fungi Keep Bad Ones in Check in Healthy Mouths

Mar. 13, 2014 — Human mouths contain a balanced mix of microbes which, when disrupted, can lead to oral diseases. A new study compares the bacteria and fungi present in the mouths of healthy individuals with those ... full story

Fish Species Unique to Hawaii Dominate Deep Coral Reefs in Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Mar. 13, 2014 — Deep coral reefs in Papahanaumokakea Marine National Monument may contain the highest percentage of fish species found nowhere else on Earth, according to a study. In waters 100-300 feet deep, nearly ... full story

Unraveling Mystery in 'Histone Code' Shows How Gene Activity Is Inherited

Mar. 13, 2014 — Every cell in our body has exactly the same DNA, yet every cell is different. The genetic code carried in our DNA provides instructions for cells to manufacture specific proteins. A second code, ... full story

More to Biological Diversity Than Meets the Eye: Specialization by Insect Species Is the Key

Mar. 13, 2014 — Scientists found greater diversity among insects in a rainforest in Peru than theory would predict. Scientists have been studying flies in the tropics for years, and now report evidence that there is ... full story

Stumbling Fruit Flies Lead Scientists to Discover Gene Essential for Sensing Joint Position

Mar. 13, 2014 — Scientists have discovered a mechanism underlying sensory feedback that guides balance and limb movements. If the findings can be fully replicated in humans, they could lead to a better understanding ... full story

We Must Forget to Avoid Serious Mental Disorders, and Forgetting Is Actively Regulated

Mar. 13, 2014 — In order to function properly, the human brain requires the ability not only to store but also to forget: Through memory loss, unnecessary information is deleted and the nervous system retains its ... full story

Number of Days Without Rain to Dramatically Increase in Some World Regions

Mar. 14, 2014 — By the end of the 21st century, some parts of the world can expect as many as 30 more days a year without precipitation, according to a new study. Ongoing climate change caused by human influences ... full story

Vitamin D Hypothesis Challenged: Some Racial Disparities in Childbirth More Environmental Than Genetic

Mar. 13, 2014 — A new study investigating racial disparities in birth outcomes shows that contrary to some theories, vitamin D is unlikely to play a role in differences in preterm birth and low birth weight between ... full story

More Accurate Data on Thousands of Years of Climate Change

Mar. 13, 2014 — Using a new, cutting-edge isotopic tool, researchers have reconstructed the temperature history of a climatically important region in the Pacific Ocean. The study analyzes how much temperatures have ... full story

Tropical Grassy Ecosystems Under Threat, Scientists Warn

Mar. 13, 2014 — Scientists have found that tropical grassy areas, which play a critical role in the world's ecology, are under threat as a result of ineffective management. This land is often misclassified, which ... full story

Most of the Sand in Alberta's Oilsands Came from Eastern North America, Study Shows

Mar. 13, 2014 — They're called the Alberta oilsands but most of the sand actually came from the Appalachian region on the eastern side of the North American continent, a new study shows. The oilsands also include ... full story

Origin of Life: Simulating How Earth Kick-Started Metabolism

Mar. 13, 2014 — Researchers have developed a new approach to simulating the energetic processes that may have led to the emergence of cell metabolism on Earth -- a crucial biological function for all living ... full story

Africa's Air Pollution Underestimated in Climate Change Models

Mar. 13, 2014 — Human activity in Africa significantly contributes to air pollution. However, no detailed data regarding country-by-country pollutant emissions in the continent was available until now. To remedy ... full story

Concerns Raised About Using Beta Agonists in Beef Cattle

Mar. 12, 2014 — Use of beta agonists in cattle production has received considerable national attention. A veterinary epidemiologist has found that although there are significant benefits to the practice, an increase ... full story

Water-Rich Gem Points to Vast 'Oceans' Beneath Earth's Surface, Study Suggests

Mar. 12, 2014 — The first terrestrial discovery of ringwoodite confirms the presence of massive amounts of water 400 to 700 kilometers beneath Earth's surface. Ringwoodite is a form of the mineral peridot, believed ... full story

Material Rivaling Graphene May Be Mined out of Rocks

Mar. 12, 2014 — Will one-atom-thick layers of molybdenum disulfide, a compound that occurs naturally in rocks, prove to be better than graphene for electronic applications? There are many signs that might prove to ... full story

Extinct California Porpoise Had a Unique Underbite

Mar. 13, 2014 — Millions of years ago, the coast of California was home to a species of porpoise distinguished from its living relatives by a lower jaw that extended well beyond the upper. In other words, the ... full story

New Fossil Species Reveals Parental Care of Young from 450 Million Years Ago

Mar. 13, 2014 — A portrait of prehistoric parenthood captured deep in the fossil record has been uncovered by an international team of scientists. The 'nursery in the sea' has revealed a species new to science -- ... full story

Dinosaur Skull May Reveal T. Rex's Smaller Cousin from the North

Mar. 12, 2014 — A 70-million-year-old fossil found in the Late Cretaceous sediments of Alaska reveals a new small tyrannosaur. Tyrannosaurs, the lineage of carnivorous theropod ("beast feet") dinosaurs that include ... full story

Language 'Evolution' May Shed Light on Human Migration out-of-Beringia: Relationship Between Siberian, North American Languages

Mar. 12, 2014 — Evolutionary analysis applied to the relationship between North American and Central Siberian languages may indicate that people moved out from the Bering Land Bridge, with some migrating back to ... full story

New Fossil Species: Origin of Toothed Whale Echolocation

Mar. 12, 2014 — A new fossil species, Cotylocara macei, shows evidence of echolocation and the complex anatomy underlying this unique behavior that has evolved in toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises. "Its dense ... full story

Bighead Carp: From 5 to 150 Centimeters in 37 Million Years

Mar. 12, 2014 — During excavations in the open lignite-mining pit Na Duong in Vietnam, scientists discovered the world’s oldest bighead carp. With a length of only 5 centimeters, Planktophaga minuta is also the ... full story

Laser and Radar Unveil the Secrets of Roman Bridges

Mar. 12, 2014 — Discovering hidden arches, visualizing the sloped outline characteristic of the medieval period, finding a Renaissance engraving on a Roman arch or detecting restorations: these are some of the ... full story

New Fossil Find: Precursor of European Rhinos Found in Vietnam

Mar. 12, 2014 — Scientists have recovered fossils of two previously unknown mammal species that lived about 37 million years ago. The newly described mammals show a surprisingly close relationship to prehistoric ... full story

Impersonating Poisonous Prey: Evolution of Interspecific Communication

Mar. 10, 2014 — Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery -- especially in the predator/prey/poison cycle. In nature, bright colors are basically neon signs that scream, 'Don't eat me!' But how did prey evolve ... full story

Natural Selection Has Altered the Appearance of Europeans Over the Past 5,000 Years

Mar. 10, 2014 — There has been much research into the factors that have influenced the human genome since the end of the last Ice Age. Anthropologists, geneticists and archaeologists have analyzed ancient DNA from ... full story

Top Society & Education News

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A Plague of Fleas: Tiny Eurasian Exotic Is Upending Watery Ecosystems Across the Northern Great Lakes

Mar. 12, 2014 — The spiny water flea, aka Bythotrephes, is devouring its way through the Great Lakes and into the surrounding inland waters, including Minnesota's Voyageurs National Park, disrupting an entire ... full story

Genes Bring Music to Your Ears

Mar. 12, 2014 — Multiple regions in the human genome are reported to be linked to musical aptitude, according to a new study. The function of the candidate genes implicated in the study ranges from inner-ear ... full story

DNA Fix for School Timetables

Mar. 12, 2014 — Scientists in Russia plan to use DNA -- our genetic material -- to help them solve one of the perennial "back to school" problems faced by school administrators the world over: how to match up ... full story

Play It Again, Sam: How the Brain Recognizes Familiar Music

Mar. 12, 2014 — Research reveals that the brain’s motor network helps people remember and recognize music that they have performed in the past better than music they have only heard. A recent study sheds new light ... full story

Long-Term Warming Likely to Be Significant Despite Recent Slowdown

Mar. 11, 2014 — A new study shows Earth's climate likely will continue to warm during this century on track with previous estimates, despite the recent slowdown in the rate of global warming. The research hinges on ... full story

No One Likes a Copycat, No Matter Where You Live

Mar. 11, 2014 — Even very young children understand what it means to steal a physical object, yet it appears to take them another couple of years to understand what it means to steal an idea. Psychologists ... full story

Why Antisocial Youth Are Less Able to See Perspective of Others

Mar. 11, 2014 — Adolescents with antisocial personality disorder inflict serious physical and psychological harm on both themselves and others. However, little is yet known about the underlying neural processes. ... full story

Education Boosts Brain Function Long After School, Study Shows

Mar. 11, 2014 — Education significantly improves mental functioning in seniors even four decades after finishing school, shows a new study. The study shows that people who attended school for longer periods ... full story

More Secure Communications Thanks to Quantum Physics

Mar. 11, 2014 — One of the recent revelations by Edward Snowden is that the U.S. National Security Agency is currently developing a quantum computer. Physicists aren’t surprised by this news; such a computer could ... full story

Face Matching for Passports and IDs Incredibly Fallible

Mar. 11, 2014 — New research finds face matching, as when customs agents check passports, to be incredibly fallible, with error rates between 10 and 20 percent under ideal, laboratory-induced conditions, and much ... full story

Over Demanding Market Affects Fisheries More Than Climate Change

Mar. 7, 2014 — Fisheries that rely on short life species, such as shrimp or sardine, have been more affected by climate change, because this phenomenon affects chlorophyll production, which is vital for ... full story

Using a Treadmill While Working Can Boost Employee Productivity, Study Finds

Mar. 4, 2014 — Walking while you work may not only improve an employee's health, it may also boost productivity, according to new research. Researchers studied employees using treadmills instead of office chairs as ... full story

Google Glass Could Help Stop Emerging Public Health Threats Around the World

Feb. 27, 2014 — The much-talked-about Google Glass -- the eyewear with computer capabilities -- could potentially save lives, especially in isolated or far-flung locations, say scientists. They are reporting ... full story

Warning: Your Open-Plan Office Can Make You Ill

Feb. 25, 2014 — Don’t blame other commuters if you catch a cold this winter: blame the people who designed your office. According to a study, workplace layout has a surprising effect on rates of sick leave. After ... full story

Portable Hydrogen Fuel Cell Unit to Provide Green, Sustainable Power to Honolulu Port

Feb. 25, 2014 — Clean hydrogen power that’s expected to lower emissions and reduce energy consumption will be coming to the Port of Honolulu in 2015 after the completion of a new fuel cell technology ... full story

Gauging What It Takes to Heal a Disaster-Ravaged Forest: Case Study in China

Feb. 24, 2014 — Recovering from natural disasters usually means rebuilding infrastructure and reassembling human lives. Yet ecologically sensitive areas need to heal, too, and scientists are pioneering new methods ... full story

Will Plug-in Cars Crash the Electric Grid? Not With Newly Proposed System

Feb. 21, 2014 — The world’s growing fleet of plug-in cars will put strain on aging electrical distribution systems. Now research presents a solution: to prevent the electric grid from crashing, break-up requests ... full story

New York Takes Lead in State Efforts to End Ivory Trade

Feb. 20, 2014 — A bill introduced into the New York State Legislature proposing a sweeping ban on the sale of ivory in New York State, Assembly bill A8824, has been welcomed by the Wildlife Conservation Society. ... full story

Sustainable Manufacturing System to Better Consider the Human Component

Feb. 20, 2014 — Engineers have developed a new approach toward 'sustainable manufacturing' that begins on the factory floor and tries to encompass the totality of manufacturing issues -- including economic, ... full story

Rise of the Compliant Machines: Sociable Humanoids Could Help Advance Human-Robot Interaction

Feb. 20, 2014 — Are we on the brink of a robotics revolution? That's what numerous media outlets asked last December when Google acquired eight robotics companies that specialize in such innovations as manipulation, ... full story

Sound Trumps Meaning in First Language Learning

Mar. 12, 2014 — Four-to-seven-year-old children rely on the sounds of new nouns more than on their meaning when assigning them to noun classes, even though the meaning is more predictive of noun class in the adult ... full story

Gesturing With Hands a Powerful Tool for Children's Math Learning

Mar. 11, 2014 — Children who use their hands to gesture during a math lesson gain a deep understanding of the problems they are taught, according to new research. Previous research has found that gestures can help ... full story

Obesity Associated With Lower Academic Attainment in Teenage Girls, Says New Study

Mar. 11, 2014 — Obesity in adolescent girls is associated with lower academic attainment levels throughout their teenage years, a new study has shown. The results showed that girls who were obese, as measured by BMI ... full story

Are You Smarter Than a 5-Year-Old? Preschoolers Can Do Algebra

Mar. 6, 2014 — Millions of high school and college algebra students are united in a shared agony over solving for x and y, and for those to whom the answers don't come easily, it gets worse: Most preschoolers and ... full story

New School Meal Standards Significantly Increase Fruit, Vegetable Consumption

Mar. 4, 2014 — New federal standards launched in 2012 that require schools to offer healthier meals have led to increased fruit and vegetable consumption, according to a new study. The study, the first to examine ... full story

Zoos, Aquariums Do Teach Us About Biodiversity, Largest International Study Proves

Mar. 3, 2014 — Zoos and aquariums do teach the public about the delicate balance between animal species and their habitats, a new international study shows. More than 6,000 visitors to over 30 zoos and aquariums ... full story

Education Attenuates Impact of TBI on Cognition

Feb. 28, 2014 — Higher educational attainment (a proxy of intellectual enrichment) attenuates the negative impact of traumatic brain injury on cognitive status, new research indicates. Said one researcher of the ... full story

Can an App Help Make Life Easier for Children With ADHD?

Feb. 28, 2014 — We have tended to associate welfare technology with support for the elderly. Now researchers are looking at whether technology such as digital calendars and smartwatches can also provide support for ... full story

Father's Age Tied to Higher Rates of Psychiatric, Academic Problems in Kids

Feb. 26, 2014 — Advancing paternal age can lead to higher rates of psychiatric and academic problems in offspring than previously estimated. Compared to a children born to a 24-year-old father, children born to a ... full story

Why Breastfed Babies Are So Smart: Moms Who Breastfeed Are Often Responsive and Read to Their Babies

Feb. 26, 2014 — Research has shown that children who were breastfed score higher on IQ tests and perform better in school, but the reason why remained unclear. Now a new study shows that two parenting skills deserve ... full story

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