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Top Science News

July 26, 2016

Meet the World's First Farmers

Before Animals, Evolution Waited Eons to Inhale

Dizzying Spin of the Milky Way Galaxy's 'Halo'

Spiders Spin Unique Phononic Material

July 25, 2016 — Conducting the first large-scale, genome-wide analyses of ancient human remains from the Near East, an international team of scientists has illuminated the genetic identities and population dynamics ... read more

July 25, 2016 — Time to smash the beaker when thinking about oxygen concentrations in water, at the time when animal life first evolved. Oceans stacked oxygen here and depleted it there, as a new novel model ... read more

July 25, 2016 — Astronomers have discovered for the first time that the hot gas in the halo of the Milky Way galaxy is spinning in the same direction and at comparable speed as the galaxy's disk, which contains our ... read more

July 25, 2016 — How spider silk transmits phonons -- quanta of sound -- could inspire novel materials to manipulate sound and heat, according to ... read more

Latest Top Headlines

updated 1:43am EDT

Hot News Flash! Menopause, Sleepless Nights Make Women's Bodies Age Faster

July 25, 2016 — Menopause--and the insomnia that often accompanies it --make women age faster, two new studies reveal. The work suggests these factors could increase women's risk for aging-related diseases and ... read more

Embryonic Gene Nanog Reverses Aging in Adult Stem Cells

July 25, 2016 — In a series of experiments, the embryonic stem cell gene Nanog kicked into action dormant cellular processes that are key to preventing weak bones, clogged arteries and other telltale signs of ... read more

1.6 Million Childbearing Women Could Be at Risk of Zika Virus Infection, Study Suggests

July 25, 2016 — Research by scientists in the US and UK has estimated that up to 1.65 million childbearing women in Central and South America could become infected by the Zika virus by the end of the first wave of ... read more

Marijuana Exposure in Kids Rose After Recreational Use Legalized in Colorado

July 25, 2016 — The legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado was associated with both increased hospital visits and cases at a regional poison center because of unintentional exposure to the drug by children, suggesting effective preventive measures are ... read more

Digging Deeper Into Mars

July 25, 2016 — Scientists continue to unravel the mystery of life on Mars by investigating evidence of water in the planet's soil. Previous observations of soil observed along crater slopes on Mars showed a significant amount of perchlorate salts, which tend to be associated with brines with a moderate pH level. ... read more

New Lithium-Oxygen Battery Greatly Improves Energy Efficiency, Longevity

July 25, 2016 — A new kind of lithium-oxygen battery, using glass nanoparticles of lithium oxides, could provide more energy, and much better stability and energy efficiency, ... read more

Altruism Is Favored by Chance

July 19, 2016 — Why do we feel good about giving to charity when there is no direct benefit to ourselves, and feel bad about cheating the system? Mathematicians may have found an answer to the longstanding puzzle as to why we have evolved to ... read more

A New Key to Understanding Molecular Evolution in Space

July 22, 2016 — Scientists have revealed temperature-dependent energy conversion of molecular hydrogen on ice surfaces, suggesting the need for a reconsideration of molecular ... read more

Human 'Super Predator' More Terrifying Than Bears, Wolves and Dogs

July 25, 2016 — Bears, wolves and other large carnivores are frightening beasts but the fear they inspire in their prey pales in comparison to that caused by the human 'super predator.' A new study demonstrates that smaller carnivores, like European badgers, that may be prey to large carnivores, actually perceive ... read more

New Extinct Carnivorous Marsupial Discovered

July 25, 2016 — A new species of extinct flesh-eating marsupial that terrorized Australia's drying forests about 5 million years ago has been identified from a fossil discovered in remote northwestern Queensland. The hypercarnivore is a distant and much bigger cousin of Australia's largest living, flesh-eating ... read more

How Honey Bees 'Telescope' Their Abdomens

July 25, 2016 — Honey bees are able to wiggle their abdomens in a variety of ways. Now new research shows how they are able to do it. Specialized membranes that connect a honey bee's abdominal segments are thicker on the top of the abdomen than on the bottom, report the scientists. This asymmetry allows the ... read more

New Index Reveals Likelihood of Terrestrial or Aquatic Lifestyles of Extinct Mammals

July 25, 2016 — Researchers have developed a new index based on rib and body weight measurements that predicts whether a mammal lived on land, in water, or both. When applied to extinct mammalian species, the index showed that some could not have supported their ... read more

Russian Balloonist Sets World Record

Chinese Scientists Will Be First To Use CRISPR Gene Editing On Humans

America Bakes as 'heat Dome' Descends

Fish Can Recognise Human Faces, Study Finds

Background Noise Interferes With Kids Learning

Antibiotics Slow Down Alzheimer's Disease: Mice

Common Colon Cancer Tumor Type Blocked

Remote-Controlled Microrobots for Medicine

July 21, 2016 — A new study of toddlers has found that the presence of background noise in home or at school can make learning new words more difficult for ... read more

July 21, 2016 — Long-term treatment with broad spectrum antibiotics decreased levels of amyloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, and activated ... read more

July 20, 2016 — A new scientific study has identified why colorectal cancer cells depend on a specific nutrient, and a way to starve them of ... read more

July 22, 2016 — Scientists have developed a new method for building microrobots that could be used in the body to deliver drugs and perform other medical ... read more

Latest Health Headlines

updated 1:43am EDT

DNA Sequencing Uncovers Latent Risk for Developing Cystic Fibrosis

July 25, 2016 — All babies with a known mutation for cystic fibrosis (CF) and second mutation called the 5T allele should receive additional screening in order to better predict the risk of developing CF later in life, new research ... read more

Sub-Set of Stem Cells Found to Minimize Risks When Used to Treat Damaged Hearts

July 25, 2016 — Scientists use mathematical modeling to simulate human mesenchymal stem cell delivery to a damaged heart and found that using one sub-set of these stem cells minimizes the risks associated with this therapy. The study represents a development in novel strategies to repair and regenerate heart muscle and could improve stem cell treatments for heart ... read more

Patients With Low Risk Prostate Cancer on Active Surveillance Experience Good Quality of Life

July 25, 2016 — Active surveillance (AS) has become an increasingly important alternative to surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation treatment for men diagnosed with low risk prostate cancer. However, what is the impact of AS on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients selected or opting for this conservative form of disease management? New research found ... read more

Process Could Make Key Biodegradable Polymer Stronger and Longer-Lasting

July 25, 2016 — The creation of a new polymer morphology in a material called PLA could lead to better medical implants and drug-delivery ... read more

Among the Oldest Adults, Poor Balance May Signal Higher Risk for Dementia

July 25, 2016 — In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers examined whether four different measures of poor physical performance might be linked to increased dementia risk for people aged 90 and ... read more

Flu Vaccine Reduces Risk of Hospital Stay for Stroke, Heart Failure for Diabetes Patients

July 25, 2016 — People with type 2 diabetes who receive the influenza vaccine may be less likely to be admitted to hospital for myocardial infarction, stroke and heart failure, according to new ... read more

Alzheimer's Disease in HIV-Positive Patient

July 25, 2016 — The first case of Alzheimer's disease diagnosed in an HIV-positive individual has been documented. The finding in a 71-year-old man triggers a realization about HIV survivors now reaching the age when Alzheimer's risk begins to ... read more

Pain of Rejection Makes Us More Likely to Commit Fraud

July 25, 2016 — People commit fraud because they are unhappy about being rejected, a new study has ... read more

Protein in Breast Milk Reduces Infection Risk in Premature Infants

July 25, 2016 — Full-term babies receive natural protection from their mothers that helps them fight off dangerous infections. However, babies born prematurely lack protective intestinal bacteria and often are unable to be nursed, causing their infection-fighting capabilities to be underdeveloped. Now, researchers have found that a manufactured form of lactoferrin, a naturally occurring protein in breast milk, ... read more

Induced Labor Not Associated With Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Study Shows

July 25, 2016 — Induction of labor appears not to be associated with increased risk of autism spectrum disorders in children, a large new study demonstrates. The new finding suggests that concern about autism risk should not factor into clinical decisions about whether or not to induce ... read more

Developmental Differences in Late Preterm Babies May Not Emerge Until After Age Two

July 25, 2016 — Developmental differences in babies born four to six weeks early may not show up until after they turn two, a new study suggests. At age two, late preterm babies were developmentally on track with peers, performing equally well on tasks such as recognizing faces and objects, understanding directions and naming items. By preschool and kindergarten, ... read more

Osteopathic Manipulation Can Improve Pain in Postpartum Women

July 25, 2016 — Preliminary results demonstrate that osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) helps reduce acute pain in postpartum women, regardless of whether they delivered vaginally or ... read more

Chinese Scientists Will Be First To Use CRISPR Gene Editing On Humans

U.S. Regulators Sue to Block Health Insurance Mergers

AP Review: Fitness Trackers

New Drug Aims to Sting Killer Bee Disease

Hey Robot, Shimmy Like a Centipede

Neutrino Hunting at the South Pole

Biological Circuits Remember, Respond to Stimuli

Big Protein Nanocages for Drug Delivery

July 22, 2016 — Researchers have used computer simulations and robotics to uncover a surprising insight into the mechanics of locomotion, namely that taming instability -- a factor that might be a disadvantage -- is ... read more

July 21, 2016 — The Askaryan Radio Array team recently published a performance review of the first two stations to come online, showing great potential for the detector to push forward understanding of the cosmos ... read more

July 21, 2016 — Engineers have programmed cells to remember and respond to events. This approach to circuit design enables scientists to create complex cellular state machines and track cell ... read more

July 21, 2016 — Using novel computational and biochemical approaches, scientists have designed and built from scratch 10 large protein icosahedra that are similar to viral capsids that carry viral ... read more

Latest Physical/Tech Headlines

updated 1:43am EDT

New Robot Overcomes Obstacles

July 25, 2016 — It looks like a bicycle chain, but has just twelve segments about the size of a fist. In each segment there is a motor. This describes pretty much the robot developed by the four bachelor students in ... read more

Vast Majority of Guns Recovered by Pittsburgh Police Not in Possession of Legal Owners

July 25, 2016 — Nearly 80 percent of perpetrators carrying a gun recovered by Pittsburgh Police were not the lawful owners, a strong indication that theft and trafficking are significant sources of firearms involved in crimes in southwest Pennsylvania, a new analysis ... read more

Placenta-on-a-Chip

July 25, 2016 — Researchers have developed the first placenta-on-a-chip that can fully model the transport of nutrients across the placental barrier. The flash-drive-sized device contains two layers of human cells that model the interface between mother ... read more

Enhancing Molecular Imaging With Light

July 25, 2016 — A new technology platform is able to image molecules at the nanoscale with ... read more

Growing Large-Volume Protein Crystals Bigger, Better in Space

July 25, 2016 — An out of this world experiment to grow large-volume protein crystals aboard the International Space Station has proven successful. These sorts of crystals, which may be used in everything from basic biomedical research to drug design, can be grown bigger and better in microgravity, a finding that may help the pharmaceuticals industry ease a drug design bottleneck, since difficult-to-grow large ... read more

Space... the Final Frontier

July 21, 2016 — Fifty years ago Captain Kirk and the crew of the starship Enterprise began their journey into space -- the final frontier. Now, as the newest Star Trek film hits cinemas, the NASA/ESA Hubble space telescope is also exploring new frontiers, observing distant galaxies in the galaxy cluster Abell ... read more

Mars Rover's Laser Can Now Target Rocks All by Itself

July 21, 2016 — New software is enabling ChemCam, the laser spectrometer on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, to select rock targets autonomously -- the first time autonomous target selection is available for an instrument of this kind on any robotic ... read more

Atmospheric Chemistry on Paper

July 21, 2016 — Normally computers speed up calculations. But with his new pen-and-paper formula, a researcher gets his results thousands of times faster than using conventional computer codes. The astrophysicist calculates the abundances of molecules (known as atmospheric chemistry) in exoplanetary atmospheres. Ultimately, deciphering the abundances of molecules allows us to interpret if features in a spectrum ... read more

Ultra-Flat Circuits Will Have Unique Properties

July 25, 2016 — Theoretical physicists have analyzed the electronic consequences of creating circuits in two dimensions by simulating the juxtaposition of different atom-thick materials like graphene and hexagonal ... read more

New Movie Screen Allows for Glasses-Free 3-D

July 25, 2016 — Researchers have demonstrated a display that lets you watch 3-D films in a movie theater without extra eyewear. Dubbed 'Cinema 3D,' the prototype uses a special array of lenses and mirrors to enable viewers to watch a 3-D movie from any seat in ... read more

Twitter Sentiment Offers Clues to Stock Performance, Study Shows

July 25, 2016 — A strong contemporaneous correlation does exist between the mood of a day’s worth of tweets about a particular stock and the performance of that stock, research ... read more

Flower Bud Uniformity Beholden to Time, Space

July 25, 2016 — A study of sepals in Arabidopsis plants reveals the mystery of how uniformity in flowers and organs occurs. In the study, the diverse international team used an interdisciplinary approach that combined expertise in biology, computer science, physics and ... read more

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Russian Balloonist Sets World Record

Verizon Wins The Bid, Buys Yahoo For $4.8 Billion

Gun Smart Lock Prevents Unauthorized Firearms Use

Spider Silk Puts New Spin on Violin Design

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Environment News

July 26, 2016

Humans and Wild Birds Hunting Honey Together

How Rope Was Made 40,000 Years Ago

Ancient Feces: Diseases Carried On Silk Road

Vibrio Bacteria Hitchhiking Sea to Sea On Plastic

July 21, 2016 — By following honeyguides, a species of bird, people in Africa are able to locate bees' nests to harvest honey. Research now reveals that humans use ... read more

July 22, 2016 — Rope and twine are critical components in the technology of mobile hunters and gatherers. In exceptional cases impressions of string have been found in fired clay and on rare occasions string was ... read more

July 21, 2016 — Intestinal parasites as well as goods were carried by travelers on the iconic route, say researchers examining an ancient ... read more

July 22, 2016 — With increasing water temperatures comes an increasing likelihood of potentially pathogenic bacteria appearing in the North and Baltic Seas. ... read more

Latest Environment Headlines

updated 1:43am EDT

Novel Technique to 'Taste' DNA

July 25, 2016 — Scientists have demonstrated for the first time that it is possible to selectively sequence fragments of DNA in real time, greatly reducing the time needed to analyze biological ... read more

Unusual New Zoantharian Species Is the First Described Solitary Species in Over 100 Years

July 25, 2016 — A very unusual new species of zoantharian was just discovered. Although most zoantharians are colonial and many are known from coral reefs, the new species lives a solitary life in muddy habitats. This species is the first of its genus described in ... read more

Loss of Habitats and Local Species Extinctions

July 25, 2016 — Unfortunately, loss of plant and animal habitat leads to local species extinctions and a loss of diversity from ecosystems. Fortunately, not all of the extinctions occur at once. Conservation actions may still be able to save threatened species, according to a vertebrate ... read more

Greek Heroic Deity Prometheus Now Has a Namesake in a New Tiny Rain Frog from Ecuador

July 21, 2016 — Prometheus, the mythological Greek heroic deity, has been given a namesake in a new species of tiny rain frog, discovered in ... read more

Unlocking the Secret to Cheaper Solar Power

July 25, 2016 — As climate change garners more attention around the world, scientists have made critical advances in understanding the physical properties of an emerging class of solar cells that have the potential to dramatically lower the cost of solar ... read more

Magma Build-Up May Put Salvadoran Capital at Risk

July 25, 2016 — The build-up of magma six kilometres below El Salvador’s Ilopango caldera means the capital city of San Salvador may be at risk from future eruptions, researchers have ... read more

Developing Reliable Renewable Energy Sources

July 25, 2016 — As the world’s population continues to grow, so does our consumption of natural resources. Many of these resources are non-renewable, so research into renewable sources of energy is vital. New Research is tackling this issue through reducing corrosion, improving heat transfer and fluid dynamics, ... read more

Tide-Triggered Tremors Give Clues for Earthquake Prediction

July 21, 2016 — The triggering of small, deep earthquakes along California's San Andreas Fault reveals depth-dependent frictional behavior that may provide insight into patterns signaling when a major quake could be on the horizon, according to a ... read more

Historic Find: A Statue of an Egyptian Official at Tel-Hazor in Israel

July 25, 2016 — In a historic find, a large fragment of an Egyptian statue measuring 45 X 40 centimeters, made of lime-stone, was discovered in the course of the current season of excavations at Tel-Hazor, north of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. Only the lower part of the statue survived, depicting the crouching ... read more

Bronze Age Barrow and Anglo-Saxon Cemetery

July 21, 2016 — A new project has investigated how different generations have re-used ancient sacred places. Archaeologists from the University of Leicester have recently excavated a Bronze Age barrow and Anglo-Saxon cemetery under former allotments at Rothley ... read more

Blood of King Albert I Identified After 80 Years

July 22, 2016 — The death of King Albert I of Belgium in 1934 -- officially a climbing accident -- still fuels speculation. Forensic geneticists have now compared DNA from blood found on the scene in 1934 to that of two distant relatives. Their analysis confirms that the blood really is that of Albert I. This ... read more

What Hunter-Gatherers Can Tell Us About Fundamental Human Social Networks

July 21, 2016 — Long before the advent of social media, human social networks were built around sharing a much more essential commodity: food. Now, researchers reporting on the food sharing networks of two contemporary groups of hunter-gatherers provide new insight into fundamental nature of human ... read more

Russian Balloonist Sets World Record

New Zealand Has 34 Years To Get Rid Of Rats

Spider Silk Puts New Spin on Violin Design

Hundreds Evacuated from Path of Wildfires in California

Watching the Brain Do Math

Scientists Unlock 'Green' Energy from Grass

Constructive Dialogue Needed to Save the Planet

Cave Drawings: When Europeans and Natives Met

July 21, 2016 — A new neuroimaging study reveals the mental stages people go through as they are solving challenging math problems. Insights from this new work may eventually be applied to the design of more ... read more

July 21, 2016 — A new way of deriving hydrogen from grass has now been developed using just sunlight and a cheap catalyst. Garden grass could become a source of cheap and clean renewable energy, scientists have ... read more

July 19, 2016 — An international consensus demands human impacts on the environment 'sustain', 'maintain', 'conserve', 'protect', 'safeguard', and 'secure' it. But, ... read more

July 19, 2016 — Archeologists have discovered remarkable evidence which shows how the first generations of Europeans to arrive in the Americas engaged with ... read more

Latest Society/Education Headlines

updated 1:43am EDT

Behavioral Activation as Effective as CBT for Depression, at Lower Cost

July 22, 2016 — A simple and inexpensive therapy is equally as effective at treating depression as the 'gold standard' of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a large-scale study has ... read more

We're Lucky Climate Change Didn't Happen Sooner

July 21, 2016 — There is some consolation in how the fossil fuel-induced climatic changes we increasingly experience through droughts and storm surges are playing out. It could have happened sooner, and therefore already have been much ... read more

Physical Declines Begin Earlier Than Expected Among U.S. Adults

July 21, 2016 — Physical declines begin sooner in life than typically detected, often when people are still in their 50s, according to a new study that focused on a large group of U.S. adults across a variety of age ... read more

Why Americans Waste So Much Food

July 21, 2016 — Even though American consumers throw away about 80 billion pounds of food a year, only about half are aware that food waste is a problem. Even more, researchers have identified that most people perceive benefits to throwing food away, some of which have limited basis in ... read more

One-Third of Students Report Elevated Psychological Distress, Survey Shows

July 21, 2016 — More than one in three -- an estimated 328,000 -- students in grades seven to 12 report moderate-to-serious psychological distress, according to new survey results in Ontario, Canada. Girls are twice as likely as boys to experience psychological distress, the ... read more

Here's Why Run-Down Schools Trigger Low Test Scores

July 21, 2016 — More than 230 New York City public middle schools were involved in a study that found a chain reaction at work: leaking toilets, smelly cafeterias, broken furniture, and run-down classrooms made students feel negatively which lead to high absenteeism and in turn, contributed to low test scores and poor academic ... read more

Blue, Green or 'Nol'?

July 18, 2016 — Even in infants too young to speak, the object categories infants form and their predictions about objects' behavior, are sculpted by the names we use to describe them, new research shows. As English speakers, we might describe the blue lake or the green grass in a natural scene. But speakers of Berinmo, an indigenous language of Papua New Guinea, have a single term for the colors we describe as ... read more

Scientists Predict Academic Achievement from DNA Alone

July 19, 2016 — Scientists have used a new genetic scoring technique to predict academic achievement from DNA alone. This is the strongest prediction from DNA of a behavioral measure ... read more

Light-Bulb Moment for Stock Market Behavior

July 21, 2016 — Physicists have discovered that the timing of electronic orders on the stock market can be mathematically described in the same way as the lifetime of a light ... read more

Workplace Climate, Not Women's 'Nature,' Responsible for Gender-Based Job Stress

July 12, 2016 — A study by a sociologist subjected both men and women to the negative social conditions that many women report experiencing in male-dominated occupations. The result: men showed the same physiological stress response to the conditions as did ... read more

More Than Four in 10 Working Adults Think Their Work Impacts Their Health

July 12, 2016 — A new poll finds that more than four in 10 working adults (44 percent) say their current job has an impact on their overall health, and one in four (28 percent) say that impact is ... read more

Technique from Biology Helps Explain the Evolution of the American Car

July 1, 2016 — Researchers have taken a unique approach to explain the way in which technologies evolve in modern society. Borrowing a technique that biologists might use to study the evolution of plants or animals, the scientists plotted the "births" and "deaths" of every American-made car and truck model from ... read more

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