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Top Science News

May 10, 2016

Five-Fingered Robot Hand Learns to Get a Grip

New Material Temporarily Tightens Skin

Tuning Strength of Memory by Manipulating Neurons

Zika Causes Neural Stem Cells to Self-Destruct

May 9, 2016 — Computer science experts and engineering researchers have built a robot hand that can not only perform dexterous manipulation -- one of the most difficult problems in robotics to solve -- but also ... read more

May 9, 2016 — Scientists have developed a new material that can temporarily protect and tighten skin, and smooth wrinkles. With further development, it could also be used to deliver drugs to help treat skin ... read more

May 5, 2016 — A step has been taken toward the possibility of tuning the strength of memory by manipulating one of the brain's signaling memory mechanisms, a ... read more

May 6, 2016 — For the first time, researchers have determined one way Zika virus infection can damage developing brain cells. The study also shows that inhibiting this mechanism reduces brain cell damage, hinting ... read more

Latest Top Headlines

updated 12:43pm EDT

When You Take Acetaminophen, You Don't Feel Others' Pain as Much

May 10, 2016 — When you take acetaminophen to reduce your pain, you may also be decreasing your empathy for both the physical and social aches that other people experience, a new ... read more

Intraocular Therapy Prevents or Reverses Diabetic Retinopathy in Mice

May 10, 2016 — Pathologic changes of the retina caused by diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in working adults. Diabetic retinopathy has no known cure, treatment options are inadequate, and prevention strategies offer limited protection. In the first of its kind, a report in The American Journal of ... read more

Experimental Therapy Halts Treatment-Resistant Brain Tumors in Mouse Model

May 9, 2016 — Researchers report an experimental therapy that in laboratory tests stops aggressive, treatment-resistant and deadly brain cancers called glioblastoma and high-grade gliomas. Testing a multi-step therapeutic strategy, the scientists found a way to use a gene therapy to shut down a gene ... read more

Infants Swaddling for Sleep Associated With Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

May 9, 2016 — The risk of sudden infant death syndrome appears to increase when infants are swaddled while sleeping on their stomachs or sides, new research has found. The analysis looked at four studies, which spanned two decades and covered three diverse geographical areas, including regions of England, ... read more

Intense Wind Found in the Neighborhood of a Black Hole

May 9, 2016 — Astrophysicists have detected an intense wind from one of the closest known black holes to ... read more

Simulating the Evolution of Mars Volcano Olympus Mons

May 9, 2016 — Scientists have succeeded in creating a model simulating the formation of mysterious structures on the surface of the Mars volcano, Olympus Mons. The research project is based on image data of the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) that is installed on the European Mars Express spacecraft, which ... read more

Smartphones Uncover How the World Sleeps

May 6, 2016 — A pioneering study of worldwide sleep patterns combines math modeling, mobile apps and big data to parse the roles society and biology each play in setting ... read more

Scientists Watch Bacterial Sensor Respond to Light in Real Time

May 5, 2016 — Researchers have made a giant leap forward in taking snapshots of ultrafast reactions in a bacterial light sensor. Using the world's most powerful X-ray laser, they were able to see atomic motions as fast as 100 quadrillionths of a second -- 1,000 times faster than ... read more

Agricultural Ammonia Emissions Disrupt Earth's Delicate Nitrogen Balance

May 9, 2016 — New research indicates that nitrogen cycle disturbance from emissions of agriculture-related ammonia now exceeds the effects of fossil fuel ... read more

Tiger Moths Use Signals to Warn Bats: Toxic Not Tasty

May 9, 2016 — Acoustic warning signals emitted by tiger moths to deter bats -- a behavior previously proven only in the laboratory -- actually occur in nature and are used as a defense mechanism, according to ... read more

Sleuths Search the Seas for Soot

May 9, 2016 — Earth system scientists have taken water samples from the north Pacific, north and south Atlantic, and Arctic oceans in search of repositories of black carbon, soot from burning biomass and diesel engines, among other sources. They've found considerably less of the material than expected, and ... read more

Leftover Warm Water in Pacific Ocean Fueled Massive El Niño

May 9, 2016 — A new study provides insight into how the current El Niño, one of the strongest on record, formed in the ... read more

Bison Named U.S National Mammal

This Lab-Created 'Second Skin' Could Do More Than Just Hide Wrinkles

Medical Error Kills Almost As Many People As Heart Disease

The Deep-Space Engines That Could One Day Take Us Past Mars

Where You Are Is Who You Are?

No One Guessed Teaching Assistant Wasn't Human

Hunger Hormones Can Increase Impulsivity

Digital Media May Be Changing How You Think

May 9, 2016 — A recent study suggests that who we are might be more integrated with where we are than previously thought. The fact that experience can shape individual differences, which in turn can affect the ... read more

May 9, 2016 — Jill Watson is a virtual teaching assistant. She was one of nine teaching assistants in an artificial intelligence online course. And none of the students guessed she wasn't a ... read more

May 9, 2016 — Never make a decision when you are hungry. The hormone ghrelin - that is released before meals and known to increase appetite - has a negative effect on both decision making and impulse control, ... read more

May 8, 2016 — Tablet and laptop users beware. Using digital platforms such as tablets and laptops for reading may make you more inclined to focus on concrete details rather than interpreting information more ... read more

Latest Health Headlines

updated 12:43pm EDT

Researchers Use Light to Control Human Heart Cells, Expedite Development of New Drugs

May 10, 2016 — A team of researchers has developed a faster method to predict whether potential new drugs will cause heart arrhythmias using optogenetics, a technique that uses light to ... read more

Further Clues in the Fight Against Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

May 10, 2016 — New findings regarding the pathology of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) are bringing researchers closer to identifying the cause of this disabling illness. CFS -- sometimes known as ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) -- is a complex illness characterized by impaired memory and concentration, metabolic, ... read more

Researchers Find Potential Breakthrough in Binge-Eating Disorder Treatment

May 10, 2016 — A treatment used for depression, Parkinson’s disease and autism shows promise to alleviate obesity in binge-eating disorder patients. tDCS is a type of neuromodulator that delivers constant, low-current electricity to a targeted portion of the ... read more

Common Nanoparticle Has Subtle Effects on Oxidative Stress Genes

May 10, 2016 — A nanoparticle commonly used in food, cosmetics, sunscreen and other products can have subtle effects on the activity of genes expressing enzymes that address oxidative stress inside two types of cells, a new ... read more

Young Women in STEM Fields Earn Up to One-Third Less Than Men

May 10, 2016 — One year after they graduate, women with Ph.D.s in science and engineering fields earn 31 percent less than do men, according to a new study using previously unavailable ... read more

Working Memory Is Better After a Barefoot Run

May 10, 2016 — Running barefoot is better than running with shoes for your working memory, according to a new study. The study is the first to show that running barefoot leads to better cognitive performance than running with ... read more

Reading an Opponent's Face Gives the Edge in Martial Arts

May 10, 2016 — There's more to excelling in the combat sport of taekwondo than just being able to produce well-aimed kicks or punches. A participant's skill at reading the emotions on an opponent's face and to therefore anticipate the next move can mean the difference between winning and losing a sparring ... read more

Black Students More Likely to Be Identified as Gifted If Teachers Are Black

May 10, 2016 — African-American children are three times as likely to be placed in gifted-education programs if they have a black teacher rather than a white teacher, according to ... read more

Smartphone Alerts Increase Inattention, Hyperactivity

May 9, 2016 — With the Internet in our pockets, are we more inclined to be inattentive to other tasks? A new study indicates that the answer is yes. The researchers designed a two-week experimental study and showed that when students kept their phones on ring or vibrate, they reported more symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity than when they kept their phones on ... read more

Raising a Child With Autism: How Optimism Can Help to Cope

May 9, 2016 — Humans are resilient, even facing the toughest of life's challenges. How individuals and families deal with demanding and emotionally charged circumstances plays a large role in how they view and face the world and the possible outcomes of a difficult situation. There's no exception for the challenging Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and how families adjust and cope with the reported stress of ... read more

Exciting Ideas Won't Slow Climate Change If People Don't Buy in and Buy Them

May 9, 2016 — As governments and researchers race to develop policies and technologies to make energy production more sustainable and mitigate climate change, they need to remember that the most sophisticated endeavors won't work if they're not ... read more

No Evidence Found Linking Anti-Nausea Drug to Birth Defects

May 9, 2016 — No evidence has been found to link the anti-nausea drug Zofran to an increased risk of birth defects. In fact, women with the condition who took Zofran reported fewer miscarriages and pregnancy terminations and higher live birth rates than women with extreme morning sickness who did not take the ... read more

New Study Warns Swaddling Babies Could Lead To Increased Risk Of SIDS

This Lab-Created 'Second Skin' Could Do More Than Just Hide Wrinkles

These Swedish Scientists Believe They Have A Cure For Pedophilia

E-Cigarettes Are Poisoning Children At An Alarming Rate

Satellites to See Mercury Enter Spotlight May 9

Galaxy-Sized Peanuts? Double Peanut Galaxy

Black Hole 660 Million Times as Big as Our Sun

Bee Model: Breakthrough for Robotics

May 4, 2016 — It happens only a little more than once a decade and the next chance to see it is Monday, May 9, 2016. Throughout the US, sky watchers can watch Mercury pass between Earth and the sun in a rare ... read more

May 6, 2016 — Astronomers have discovered an unusually shaped structure in two nearby disc galaxies. Scientists recently developed new imaging software, making it ... read more

May 5, 2016 — It's about 660 million times as massive as our sun, and a cloud of gas circles it at about 1.1 million mph. This supermassive black hole sits at the center of a galaxy dubbed NGC 1332, which is 73 ... read more

May 5, 2016 — Scientists at the University of Sheffield have created a computer model of how bees avoid hitting walls -- which could be a breakthrough in the development of autonomous ... read more

Latest Physical/Tech Headlines

updated 12:43pm EDT

Distance Wireless Charging Enhanced by Magnetic Metamaterials

May 10, 2016 — Researchers have developed a system which efficiently transfers electrical energy between two separate circuits. The system, made with a shell of metamaterials which concentrates the magnetic field, could transmit energy efficiently enough to charge mobile devices without having to place them close ... read more

Atomic Force Microscope Reveals Molecular Ghosts

May 10, 2016 — Researchers recently used non-contact atomic force microscopy to look at simple chemical reactions with atomic resolution, confirming what chemists have heretofore only inferred from spectroscopy. These researchers have now looked at a more complicated reaction and seen intermediate states that ... read more

Panic-Proofing, Not Preventing Bubbles, Should Be Focus of U. S. Financial Policy

May 9, 2016 — Complicated new regulations added to complicated old regulations won’t protect the United States’ financial system from frightening crashes like that experienced in 2008, says a professor who helped the Obama administration pull the financial sector out of that morass. Instead, “a much simpler and more surgical approach is needed,” the ... read more

First Single-Enzyme Method to Produce Quantum Dots Revealed

May 9, 2016 — Engineers have successfully demonstrated the first precisely controlled, biological way to manufacture quantum dots using a single-enzyme, paving the way for a significantly quicker, cheaper and greener production ... read more

Sun’s Magnetic Field During the Grand Minimum Is in Fact at Its Maximum

May 9, 2016 — The study of the Sun’s long-term variation over a millennium by means of super computer modelling showed that during a time period of the Maunder Minimum type, the magnetic field may hide at the bottom of the ... read more

Bright Dusty Galaxies Are Hiding Secret Companions

May 6, 2016 — A new study has cleared the air on what lies behind hot dust visible in the distant universe. Researchers found that the glow of heated dust reaching our planet is frequently due to three or four galaxies instead of a single one, as scientists had ... read more

Star With Different Internal Driving Force Than the Sun

May 4, 2016 — A star like the sun has an internal driving in the form of a magnetic field that can be seen on the surface as sunspots. Now astrophysicists have observed a distant star in the constellation Andromeda with a different positioning of sunspots and this indicates a magnetic field that is driven by ... read more

Second Strongest Shock Wave Found in Merging Galaxy Clusters

May 4, 2016 — Astronomers have discovered the second-strongest merger shock in clusters of galaxies ... read more

Exploring the Mathematical Universe

May 10, 2016 — Mathematicians have begun charting the terrain of rich, new mathematical worlds, and sharing their discoveries on the Web. The mathematical universe is filled with both familiar and exotic items, many of which are being made available for the first time. The project provides a new tool for several ... read more

How Will People Interact With Technology in the Future?

May 9, 2016 — New research discusses how people will interact with technology in ... read more

Best of Both Worlds: Ferromagnetism and Semiconductor for Spintronics

May 9, 2016 — More, faster, better, cheaper. These are the demands of our device-happy and data-centered world. Meeting these demands requires technologies for processing and storing information. Now, a significant obstacle to the development of next-generation device technologies appears to have been overcome, ... read more

New Techniques Make RFID Tags 25 Percent Smaller

May 9, 2016 — Engineering researchers have developed a suite of techniques that allow them to create passive radio-frequency identification tags that are 25 percent smaller -- and therefore ... read more

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New 360 Degree Scanner Could Cut Airport Queues

Mercury Makes Rare Move Across the Sun

Ex-Facebook Workers Say Your 'Trending' Section Is Biased

'Space Glider' Aims for Record Highs

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Environment News

May 10, 2016

Earth's Mantle Goes Up, Down, 'Like a Yo-Yo'

Early Earth's Air Half as Weighty as Today's

Mosasaurs Were Warm-Blooded, Study Suggests

World's First Plant-Eating Marine Reptile Found

May 9, 2016 — Researchers have compiled the first global set of observations of flow within the Earth's mantle -- the layer between the crust and the core -- and ... read more

May 9, 2016 — Bubbles trapped in ancient lava shows the early Earth did not have a thicker atmosphere -- the air pressure 2.7 billion years ago was at most half of ... read more

May 6, 2016 — Mosasaurs -- an extinct group of aquatic reptiles that thrived during the Late Cretaceous period -- possibly were "endotherms," or warm-blooded creatures. Mosasurs were large aquatic reptiles that ... read more

May 6, 2016 — Newly-discovered fossils of the Triassic marine reptile Atopodentatus unicus have revealed that the animal had a bizarre hammerhead-shaped jaw apparatus. It used its strange jaw to feed on plants, ... read more

Latest Environment Headlines

updated 12:43pm EDT

Space Technology Comes Down to Earth in New Agricultural Device

May 10, 2016 — Space technology is to be put to work on Earth – in a device for testing soil quality. The agricultural monitoring system, consisting of a mobile rover platform with a robotic arm which carries a soil sensing instrument, will be based on technology previously developed for use in exploration ... read more

Origin of Dromedary Camel Domestication Discovered

May 9, 2016 — Dromedaries have been used for transportation for over 3,000 years. But it was not known where they were first domesticated or which genetic structure was selected in the process. A team of researchers has now identified the origin of the domesticated dromedary and showed that the dromedaries, unlike other domesticated animals, have maintained extensive gene flow in the modern ... read more

Saharan Dust Affects Marine Bacteria, Potential Pathogen Vibrio

May 9, 2016 — Iron can be hard to hard to come by in open marine waters -- except each summer, when atmospherically transported dust from north Africa's Sahara Desert provides pulses of biologically important nutrients, including iron, to the tropical marine waters of the Caribbean and southeastern US. ... read more

Study Supports Natural Causes, Not Alien Activity, to Explain Mystery Star's Behavior

May 9, 2016 — The results of a new study make it far less likely that KIC 8462852, popularly known as Tabby's star, is the home of industrious aliens who are gradually enclosing it in a vast shell called a Dyson ... read more

Four of Five British People Are Unaware of Ocean Acidification

May 9, 2016 — Just one in five people in Britain are aware of ocean acidification -- a consequence of carbon emissions that poses serious risks to sea-life -- a survey of 2,501 members of the public has ... read more

Shellfish Response to Ocean Acidification Depends on Other Stressors

May 9, 2016 — A study of California mussels, a key species in the rocky intertidal ecosystems of the West Coast, indicates that the effects of ocean acidification will vary from place to place along the coast depending on a range of interacting factors. Researchers found that the ability of mussels to cope with more acidic conditions depends largely on how much food is available to them, and both factors vary ... read more

Daily Up and Down of the Plankton Animals in the Sea

May 9, 2016 — A unique series of measurements taken over several years in the Antarctic Ocean provide new findings about the daily vertical migration of zooplankton communities: scientists of the observed changes during the year and between ... read more

Antarctic Whales and the Krill They Eat

May 9, 2016 — The Western Antarctic sector of the Southern Ocean is the regular feeding ground of a large number of fin and humpback whales of the Southern Hemisphere. Around 5,000 fin whales likely migrate to its ice-free waters during summer, along with at least 3,000 humpback ... read more

Further Evidence Found Against Ancient 'Killer Walrus' Theory

May 9, 2016 — A team of scientists using techniques from the field of dentistry is shedding new light on the evolution of walruses, fur seals and sea lions. The researchers have cast further doubt on previous claims that an ancient 'killer walrus' was a marine mammal eater. The multidisciplinary research team ... read more

'Lepeichnus Giberti', a New Trace Fossil With Exceptional Characteristics in the Palaeontology World

May 5, 2016 — <em>Lepeichnus gibert</em>i is the name of the new trace fossil of the upper Miocene, very complex and exceptionally preserved, found in the town of Lepe (Huelva). Ichnotaxons are the terms used by the ichnologists in order to list and classify ... read more

Simulation of Prehistoric Population Dynamics Using Current Topographical Satellite Data

May 5, 2016 — An accurate method to simulate prehistoric movements of people based upon current topographical satellite data may prove useful in determining early human population dynamics even when no genetic information is available, ... read more

How Did Birds Get Their Wings? Bacteria May Provide a Clue, Say Scientists

May 6, 2016 — New research has used bacteria to show that acquiring duplicate copies of genes can provide a 'template' allowing organisms to evolve novel traits from redundant copies of ... read more

Bison Named U.S National Mammal

South Africans on Illegal Hunt for Game Meat

'Space Glider' Aims for Record Highs

Severe Weather Moves Across Plains States

What If We Lost All the Vultures?

Medical Errors 3rd Leading Cause of Death in US

Air Rage a Product of Class Difference

Attention Span Suffers If Parents Are Distracted

May 5, 2016 — The primary threat to vultures is the presence of toxins in the carrion they consume. Losses of vultures can allow other scavengers to flourish, and proliferation of such scavengers could bring ... read more

May 4, 2016 — Analyzing medical death rate data over an eight-year period, patient safety experts have calculated that more than 250,000 deaths per year are due to medical error in the U.S. Their figure surpasses ... read more

May 2, 2016 — We blame air rage on long flight delays, shrinking seats and a general decline in civility. But the first empirical research study into the phenomenon pegs another culprit -- class inequality -- for ... read more

Apr. 28, 2016 — Caregivers whose eyes wander during playtime -- due to distractions such as smartphones or other technology, for example -- may raise children with shorter attention spans, according to a new ... read more

Latest Society/Education Headlines

updated 12:43pm EDT

Influential Factors of the Social Divide in Child Obesity Rates

May 10, 2016 — Researchers have identified important early life factors that contribute to childhood obesity rates being different for children from different socio-economic ... read more

Fewer Overweight or Obese Children in Canada After Years of Increased Rates

May 9, 2016 — After years of increases, the rates of children who are overweight or obese are declining in Canada, according to new research. The study, conducted to understand obesity trends in Canada, looked at data on 14,014 children between the ages of 3 and 19 years. The sex distribution of the group was split evenly and 80% of the children were ... read more

Genetic Potential of Oil-Eating Bacteria from the BP Oil Spill Decoded

May 9, 2016 — Microbiologists have cracked the genetic code of how bacteria broke down oil to help clean up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, revealing that some bacteria have far greater potential for consuming oil than was previously known. The findings have applications for responding to future ... read more

Yellow Fever Epidemic: New Global Health Emergency?

May 9, 2016 — Evidence is mounting that the current outbreak of yellow fever is becoming the latest global health emergency, say two experts who call on the World Health Organization to convene an emergency committee under the International Health Regulations. In addition, with frequent emerging epidemics, they call for the creation of a 'standing emergency committee' to be prepared for future health ... read more

Pattern Learning Key to Children's Language Development

May 5, 2016 — A new study reveals children's language development is a learnt skill and is intricately linked to their ability to recognize patterns in their ... read more

Origin of Synaptic Pruning Process Linked to Learning, Autism and Schizophrenia Identified

May 2, 2016 — Researchers have identified a brain receptor that appears to initiate adolescent synaptic pruning, a process believed necessary for learning, but one that appears to go awry in both autism and ... read more

Chances Are You Don’t Remember What You Just Retweeted

Apr. 29, 2016 — Research finds retweeting or otherwise sharing information creates a 'cognitive overload' that interferes with learning and retaining what you've just seen. Worse yet, that overload can spill over and diminish performance in the real ... read more

Music Improves Baby Brain Responses to Music and Speech

Apr. 25, 2016 — New research shows that play sessions with music improved babies' brain processing of both music and new ... read more

Combining Your Home, Work Life Can Be Better for Role Performance Say Researchers

May 4, 2016 — Leaving work at the office and home at the door may not always be the best strategy for employee well-being and performance, finds a new study. Authors outline how individuals with integrated boundaries across home and work are likely to develop methods that help them transition between these domains more efficiently and with less mental ... read more

Not So Safe: Security Software Can Put Computers at Risk

May 4, 2016 — Is the antivirus program running on your computer really making your computers safer to use, say, for online banking? Is the parental control software you bought to keep your child off inappropriate sites transparent for the overall safety of your computer? New research shows security software might actually make online computing less ... read more

Are Low Wages an Occupational Health Hazard?

May 3, 2016 — Low wages should be recognized as an occupational health threat, according to a new editorial. The authors believe that low wages should be considered among the psychosocial factors -- such as long work hours and high job strain -- identified as occupational risks to ... read more

New Study Exposes Growing Problem of Patent Aggregators and Negative Impact on Innovation

Apr. 28, 2016 — In theory, the rise in patent litigation could reflect growth in the commercialization of technology and innovation, as lawsuits increase proportionately as more and more companies turn to intellectual property (IP) protection to safeguard their competitive advantages. In reality, however, it's a very different story. Researchers point out that ... read more

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