Top Science News
September 24, 2016
Sep. 23, 2016 — The copper used to make Ötzi's axe blade did not come from the Alpine region as had previously been supposed, but from ore mined in southern Tuscany. Ötzi was probably not involved in working the ... read more
Sep. 23, 2016 — A new study on the Greenland Ice Sheet provides valuable insight on climate change, using unique research methods to establish new estimates of ice loss for both modern and ancient times, says ... read more
Sep. 23, 2016 — It has long puzzled scientists why, after 3 billion years of nothing more complex than algae, complex animals suddenly started to appear on Earth. ... read more
Sep. 23, 2016 — Endurance training changes the activity of thousands of genes and give rise to a multitude of altered DNA-copies, RNA, researchers report. The study also nuances the concept of muscle ... read more
Latest Top Headlines
updated 5:03pm EDT

Landmark Map Reveals the Genetic Wiring of Cellular Life

Sep. 23, 2016 — A new map breaks away from the old way of studying genes one at a time, showing how genes interact in groups to shed light on the genetic roots ... read more
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Tattoo Therapy Could Ease Chronic Disease

Sep. 22, 2016 — A temporary tattoo to help control a chronic disease might someday be possible, according to scientists who tested newly created ... read more
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Swarms of Magnetic Bacteria Could Be Used to Deliver Drugs to Tumors

Sep. 22, 2016 — One of the biggest challenges in cancer therapy is being able to sufficiently deliver chemotherapy drugs to tumors without exposing healthy tissues to their toxic effects. Magnetic bacteria are a promising vehicle for more efficiently delivering tumor-fighting drugs, researchers ... read more
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'Sixth Sense' May Be More Than Just a Feeling

Sep. 22, 2016 — With the help of two young patients with a unique neurological disorder, scientists have discovered that a gene called PIEZO2 controls specific aspects of human touch and proprioception, a "sixth sense" describing awareness of one's body in space. Mutations in the gene caused the two to have ... read more
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ALMA Explores the Hubble Ultra Deep Field: Deepest Ever Millimeter Observations of Early Universe

Sep. 22, 2016 — International teams of astronomers have used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to explore the distant corner of the Universe first revealed in the iconic images of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF). These new ALMA observations ... read more
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Hubble Finds Planet Orbiting Pair of Stars

Sep. 22, 2016 — Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, and a trick of nature, have confirmed the existence of a planet orbiting two stars in the system OGLE-2007-BLG-349, located 8,000 light-years away towards the center of our galaxy. The Hubble observations represent the first time such a three-body ... read more
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Cosmology Safe as Universe Has No Sense of Direction

Sep. 22, 2016 — The universe is expanding uniformly. Space isn't stretching in a preferred direction ... read more
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Twin Jets Pinpoint the Heart of an Active Galaxy

Sep. 21, 2016 — Two particle jets shoot out from the heart of active galaxy NGC 1052 at the speed of light, apparently originating in the vicinity of a massive black hole. Researchers have now measured the magnetic fields in this area. They observed the bright, very compact structure of just two light days in size ... read more
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How Natural Selection Acted on One Penguin Species Over the Past Quarter Century

Sep. 24, 2016 — Biologists combed through 28 years' worth of data on Magellanic penguins to search for signs that natural selection -- one of the main drivers of evolution -- may be acting on certain ... read more
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Resonance in Rainbow Bridge

Sep. 22, 2016 — Utah's iconic Rainbow Bridge hums with natural and human-made vibrations, according to a new study. The study characterizes the different ways the bridge vibrates and what frequencies and energy sources cause the rock structure to resonate. The vibrations are small, according to a geology and ... read more
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Melatonin, Biological Clock Keep Singing Fish on Time

Sep. 23, 2016 — In the 1980s, people living on houseboats in the San Francisco Bay were puzzled by a droning hum of unknown origin that started abruptly in the late evening and stopped suddenly in the morning. A lengthy investigation revealed the culprit: male plainfin midshipman fish (Porichthys notatus) that ... read more
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Trophy Hunting of Lions Can Conserve the Species, Report Suggests

Sep. 22, 2016 — Trophy hunters can play an important role in lion conservation, researchers have shown. These findings may surprise the public, but most lion conservationists think trophy hunting could play a key role in conserving this species because lions need large areas to thrive, and managing this land is ... read more
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Health News
September 24, 2016
Sep. 22, 2016 — The DNA of young people is regulated to express the right genes at the right time. With the passing of years, the regulation of the DNA gradually gets disrupted, which is an important cause of aging. ... read more
Sep. 21, 2016 — Children's ability to make moral judgements has often been substantially underestimated, new research indicates. When making moral judgements, adults tend to focus on people's intentions rather than ... read more
Sep. 21, 2016 — Smoking leaves its "footprint" on the human genome in the form of DNA methylation, a process by which cells control gene activity, according to new research. Even after someone stops smoking, the ... read more
Sep. 21, 2016 — You might be able to blame your genes for weighing more and increasing your risk of obesity, but you can no longer blame your genes for failing to lose weight, a comprehensive study has ... read more
Latest Health Headlines
updated 5:03pm EDT

Ancient Remedy Becomes Novel Approach to Treating Clostridium Difficile Infection

Sep. 22, 2016 — The epidemiology of Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infection, clinical presentation of infection, diagnosis and various therapies including fecal microbiota transplant have been the focus of recent research, all laid out in a new ... read more
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Scientists Spot Genes That Make Some Sarcomas Less Aggressive

Sep. 21, 2016 — A set of genes they say make sarcoma cells less aggressive has been discovered by researchers. They hope to turn the discovery into new therapeutic approaches to fight metastatic ... read more
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Blood Biomarkers in Drug-Resistant Cancer Tumor Cells Identified

Sep. 21, 2016 — While searching for a non-invasive way to detect prostate cancer cells circulating in blood, researchers have identified some blood markers associated with tumor resistance to two common hormone ... read more
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Immune and Targeted Therapies With Radiation Therapy Improves Outcomes for Melanoma Brain Metastases Patients, Say Researchers

Sep. 21, 2016 — Researchers have sought to determine if patients with melanoma brain metastases treated with immune and targeted therapies had improved outcomes over patients treated with conventional chemotherapy. They retrospectively analyzed data from 96 patients with melanoma brain metastases who were treated with stereotactic radiation therapy within 3 ... read more
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Care Home Dementia Study Finds Failure to Reduce Antipsychotic Prescribing

Sep. 20, 2016 — There has been no sustained reduction in the prescription of antipsychotics to UK dementia patients, despite government guidance, according to a ... read more
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Researchers Find a Potential Signature of Cognitive Function in People Living With HIV

Sep. 20, 2016 — A unique epigenetic footprint has been found in specific types of immune cells from blood that can identify individuals with HIV that have a range of impairments in cognitive function. Reliable biomarkers such as that identified by the researchers offer insight into how HIV-associated cognitive impairment develops but also promises improved ... read more
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Older Adults With Long-Term Alcohol Dependence Lose Neurocognitive Abilities

Sep. 22, 2016 — Heavy drinking can lead to neurophysiological and cognitive changes ranging from disrupted sleep to more serious neurotoxic effects. Aging can also contribute to cognitive decline. Several studies on the interaction of current heavy drinking and aging have had varied results. This study sought to elucidate the relations among age, heavy drinking, ... read more
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100 Million Prescription Opioids Go Unused Each Year Following Wisdom Teeth Removal, Study Estimates

Sep. 22, 2016 — More than half of opioids prescribed to patients following surgical tooth extraction – such as the removal of impacted wisdom teeth – were left unused by patients, research shows. The authors say the surplus is troubling given the ongoing opioid epidemic and evidence showing that individuals who abuse prescription opioids often use leftover ... read more
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Vitamin B Levels During Pregnancy Linked to Eczema Risk in Child

Sep. 23, 2016 — Infants whose mothers had a higher level of a particular type of vitamin B during pregnancy have a lower risk of eczema at age 12 months, new research has shown. The study is the first to link maternal serum levels of nicotinamide, a naturally occurring vitamin, and related metabolites to the risk of atopic eczema in the ... read more
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Sweet News: Sucralose Is Not Linked to Cancer, Study Finds

Sep. 22, 2016 — In a society where obesity is increasingly recognized as a risk factor for disease, low- and no-calorie ingredients are logical choices for those wishing to manage their weight.  However, some people have concerns that sucralose, a no-calorie sweetener, may be linked to cancer.  A new article may finally put those fears to rest; a comprehensive review of studies testing the safety and ... read more
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Cesarean Section Carries Increased Risk for Postpartum Venous Thromboembolism (VTE)

Sep. 22, 2016 — Women are four times more likely to suffer a VTE after a cesarean-section compared to a vaginal birth, according to a new study. Roughly one-third of all births in Europe and North America now occur via cesarean ... read more
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Low Sense of Attachment, Infant Developmental Delays

Sep. 21, 2016 — A low sense of attachment between an expectant mother and her unborn child could be associated with some infant developmental delays. A new study has reached this conclusion in a study of more than 700 mother-child ... read more
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Physical/Tech News
September 24, 2016
Sep. 21, 2016 — Elementary school science teaches us that in the sun, dark colors get hot while white stays cool. Now new research has found an exception: scientists ... read more
Sep. 21, 2016 — Sound can now be structured in three dimensions. Researchers have found a way of generating acoustic holograms, which could improve ultrasound diagnostics and material testing. The holograms can also ... read more
Sep. 21, 2016 — The dusty disk surrounding the star TW Hydrae exhibits circular features that may signal the formation of protoplanets. Astrophysicist argue, however, that the innermost actually points to the ... read more
Sep. 21, 2016 — The puzzling appearance of an ice cloud seemingly out of thin air has prompted NASA scientists to suggest that a different process than previously thought -- possibly similar to one seen over Earth's ... read more
Latest Physical/Tech Headlines
updated 5:03pm EDT

Engineers Create Room-Temperature Multiferroic Material

Sep. 23, 2016 — Multiferroics -- materials that exhibit both magnetic and electric order -- are of interest for next-generation computing but difficult to create because the conditions conducive to each of those states are usually mutually exclusive. And in most multiferroics found to date, their respective properties emerge only at extremely low temperatures. Now researchers have combined two non-multiferroic ... read more
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Chains of Nanogold, Forged With Atomic Precision

Sep. 22, 2016 — Short chains and rings of gold nanoparticles have now been produced with unprecedented precision. They used a special kind of nanoparticles with a well-defined structure and linked them together with molecular bridges. These structures – being practically huge molecules – allow extremely accurate studies of light–matter interaction in metallic nanostructures and ... read more
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Hunt for the Truest North

Sep. 21, 2016 — If you chop a magnet in half, you end up with two smaller magnets. Both the original and the new magnets have “north” and “south” poles. But what if single north and south poles exist, just like positive and negative electric charges? These hypothetical beasts, known as “magnetic monopoles,” are an important prediction in several ... read more
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Scientists Find Twisting 3-D Raceway for Electrons in Nanoscale Crystal Slices

Sep. 23, 2016 — An exotic 3-D racetrack for electrons in ultrathin slices of a crystal has been observed for the first time, by a group of researchers. The ultimate goal of this research is to approach the lossless conduction of another class of materials, known as ... read more
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Colorful Demise of a Sun-Like Star

Sep. 23, 2016 — Our sun will eventually burn out and shroud itself with stellar debris, but not for another 5 ... read more
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In Rotating Galaxies, Distribution of Normal Matter Precisely Determines Gravitational Acceleration

Sep. 21, 2016 — Researchers have found a significant new relationship in spiral and irregular galaxies: the acceleration observed in rotation curves tightly correlates with the gravitational acceleration expected from the visible mass only. The discovery may alter the understanding of dark matter and the internal dynamics of ... read more
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Feeding a Mars Mission: The Challenges of Growing Plants in Space

Sep. 21, 2016 — Plants will play a critical role in the survival of human beings on long-duration space missions, such as a mission to Mars.  However, as a new paper shows, many challenges need to be addressed if astronauts are to successfully grow enough food on board spacecraft and on other ... read more
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In Exploring the ‘now,’ New Theory Links Flow of Time With Big Bang

Sep. 21, 2016 — A simple question from his wife -- Does physics really allow people to travel back in time? -- propelled a physicist on a quest to resolve a fundamental problem that had puzzled him throughout his 45-year career: Why does the arrow of time flow inexorably toward the future, constantly creating new ... read more
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Next Generation of Statistical Tools to Be Developed for the Big Data Age

Sep. 21, 2016 — Statisticians are developing new ways to interpret the unprecedented amounts of data being generated continuously all around us. Whether it is smart phones packed full of sensors measuring your health, location and the weather, or connected cars driving past roadside monitors measuring traffic volumes or air quality, or even thousands of sensors on individual oil wells, in the world of the ... read more
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Automated Screening for Childhood Communication Disorders

Sep. 23, 2016 — For children with speech and language disorders, early-childhood intervention can make a great difference in their later academic and social success. But many such children -- one study estimates 60 percent -- go undiagnosed until kindergarten or ... read more
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With Great Power Comes Great Laser Science

Sep. 22, 2016 — Scientists have found a way to compress ultrashort laser pulses, increasing its peak power to half a terawatt – which is equivalent to the output of hundreds of ... read more
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New Model Could Point Way to Microbiome Forecasting in the Ocean

Sep. 22, 2016 — A new mathematical model integrates environmental and molecular sequence information to better explain how microbial networks drive nutrient and energy cycling in ... read more
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Environment News
September 24, 2016
Sep. 22, 2016 — Injecting wastewater deep underground as a byproduct of oil and gas extraction techniques that include fracking causes human-made earthquakes, new research has found. The study, which also showed ... read more
Sep. 22, 2016 — Whales are the biggest animals to ever have existed on Earth, and yet some subsist on creatures the size of a paper clip. It's a relatively common factoid, but, in truth, how they do this is only ... read more
Sep. 22, 2016 — By adding highly accurate radiocarbon dating of soil to standard Earth system models, environmental scientists have learned a dirty little secret: ... read more
Sep. 22, 2016 — Iconic dinosaur shapes were present for at least a hundred million years on our planet in animals before those dinosaurs themselves actually ... read more
Latest Environment Headlines
updated 5:03pm EDT

Peeling Back the Layers: Scientists Use New Techniques to Uncover Hidden Secrets of Plant Stem Development

Sep. 22, 2016 — Innovative new cell imaging techniques have now been pioneered to shed light on cells hidden deep inside the meristem. This new development has made it possible to explore further below the outer surface of plants and has uncovered how a key gene ... read more
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Ocean Fronts Attract Ocean Wanderers

Sep. 21, 2016 — Foraging seabirds use oceanic fronts as an efficient means to forage for food, according to an international study that could help safeguard the future of protected ... read more
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Malaysia's Unique Freshwater Mussels in Danger

Sep. 21, 2016 — Peninsular Malaysia hosts at least three rare mussel species, one of which (Hyriopsis bialata) is not found anywhere else on the planet. Now investigators suggest that this species may be in danger. Another species (Ensidens ingallsianus) may have already gone extinct, they ... read more
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More Than One in Ten UK Species Threatened With Extinction

Sep. 21, 2016 — Climate change, urban expansion and agricultural intensification blamed for risk to some of Britain's best loved species. Some of the UK's leading nature experts have delivered a clarion call for action to help save many of the nation's native wildlife species from ... read more
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Fate of Turtles, Tortoises Affected More by Habitat Than Temperature

Sep. 20, 2016 — Habitat degradation poses a greater risk to the survival of turtles and tortoises than rising global temperatures, according to new research. More than 60 per cent are listed as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered, because they are being traded, collected for food and medicine and their habitats are being degraded. Understanding the additional impact of global warming and changes in ... read more
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Environmental DNA Provides Early Detection of Invasive Crayfish

Sep. 20, 2016 — Every plant and animal has a unique genetic composition, which makes a lake like a bowl of DNA soup—every spoonful contains the combined DNA of the lake’s inhabitants. Scientists have only recently begun using this environmental DNA, or eDNA, to identify the presence of organisms like amphibians and fish. A researcher and his colleagues analyzed eDNA to successfully detect the presence of the ... read more
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Caspian Terns Discovered Nesting 1,000 Miles Farther to the North Than Ever Recorded in Alaska

Sep. 23, 2016 — In the late summer of 2016, a field team monitored Caspian tern chicks through to fledging in Cape Krusenstern National Monument in Alaska. This discovery of Caspian terns breeding above the Arctic Circle in the Chukchi Sea is nearly 1,000 miles ... read more
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Underwater 'Cystoseira Zosteroides' Forests, the Mediterranean Algae, Threatened by Human Activity Impact

Sep. 23, 2016 — The effects of an intense storm every twenty-five years could make the marine alga populations of <em>Cystoseira zosteroides</em> disappear – an endemic species of the Mediterranean with great ecological value for the biodiversity of marine ... read more
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The Scroll from En-Gedi: A High-Tech Recovery Mission

Sep. 22, 2016 — Archeologists have further unlocked writings in the ancient En-Gedi scroll -- the first severely damaged, ink-based scroll to be unrolled and identified noninvasively. Through virtual unwrapping, they have revealed it to be the earliest copy of a Pentateuchal book -- Leviticus -- ever found in a ... read more
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All Non-Africans Alive Today Likely Descend from People Within a Single Migration out of Africa

Sep. 21, 2016 — A study of hundreds of new genomes from across the globe has yielded insights into modern genetic diversity and ancient population dynamics, including compelling evidence that essentially all non-Africans today descend from a single migration out ... read more
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Genetic ‘trace’ in Papuan Genomes Suggests Two Expansions out of Africa

Sep. 21, 2016 — A new study of human genomic diversity suggests there may have in fact been two successful dispersals out of Africa, and that a “trace” of the earlier of these two expansion events has lingered in the genetics of modern Papuans. ... read more
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The First Genomic History of Australia’s Peopling

Sep. 21, 2016 — Australia has one of the longest histories of continuous human occupation outside Africa. But who exactly were the first people to settle there? Such a question has obvious political implications and has been hotly debated for decades. The first comprehensive genomic study of Aboriginal Australians reveals that they are indeed the direct descendants of Australia’s earliest settlers and diverged ... read more
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Society/Education News
September 24, 2016
Sep. 20, 2016 — Beginning in 2008, Volkswagen installed software to circumvent emissions testing by turning off the nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions control system in ... read more
Sep. 18, 2016 — A new survey of internet users suggests that people who use the internet excessively may have more mental health problems. Using two scales to ... read more
Sep. 14, 2016 — About half of the children whose parents were surveyed in the United States spend time in homes that have firearms, a study of shows. However, few ... read more
Sep. 8, 2016 — A large earthquake on one fault can trigger large aftershocks on separate faults within just a few minutes. These findings have important implications for earthquake hazard prone regions like ... read more
Latest Society/Education Headlines
updated 5:03pm EDT

Science Can Shape Healthy City Planning

Sep. 23, 2016 — The health gains achieved if cities were designed so that shops, facilities, work and public transportation were within walking distance of most residents have now been quantified by researchers. In a series of articles, researchers tackle how to implement timely research into city design, planning and policy to improve the health of a city’s ... read more
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Marriage Made in Sunlight: Invention Merges Solar With Liquid Battery

Sep. 22, 2016 — As solar cells produce a greater proportion of total electric power, a fundamental limitation remains: the dark of night when solar cells go to sleep. Lithium-ion batteries are too expensive a solution to use on something as massive as the electric grid. A professor of chemistry has a better ... read more
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New Comprehensive Approach to Inland Fisheries Management

Sep. 20, 2016 — Managing inland fisheries in the 21st century presents several obstacles including the need to view fisheries from multiple scales, which usually involves populations and resources spanning sociopolitical boundaries, say ... read more
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Popeye Was Right: There’s Energy in That Spinach

Sep. 22, 2016 — Using a simple membrane extract from spinach leaves, researchers have developed a cell that produces electricity and hydrogen from water using sunlight. Based on photosynthesis, and technology paves the way for clean fuels from renewable ... read more
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Research Shows That How Students Engage With Feedback Is as Important as Its Content

Sep. 21, 2016 — A new research review takes a novel approach to feedback by focusing not on how it is delivered, but how students engage with and use it. The key message from the study is that effective feedback needs to be a dialogue – not a one-way ... read more
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Health Benefits of Evening Classes Revealed

Sep. 20, 2016 — Those with a taste for adult education classes have long known it, but now scientists have confirmed that taking part in the weekly sessions can boost wellbeing -- regardless of the ... read more
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Video Games Can Have Lasting Impact on Learning

Sep. 20, 2016 — A computer-based brain training program helps improve student performance in reading and math — in some cases even more than individualized tutoring, according to a new ... read more
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Let's Talk About More Than Sex: Parents in Favor of Expanding Health Education

Sep. 19, 2016 — Teaching kids about drugs, alcohol and sex appears to be less controversial than ever before but parents want to see health education classes cover ... read more
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Rushing to Complete Work on Deadline Could Mean More Mistakes

Sep. 19, 2016 — When deadlines are in place, workers tend to complete their tasks at the last minute, often leading to lower quality outcomes, shows a new ... read more
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'Sleeper Effect' Accounts for Durability of Weak Messages from Credible Sources

Sep. 13, 2016 — The least convincing arguments can reverberate in the public consciousness over time -- provided they're delivered by a credible source, explains new ... read more
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Group Work Can Harm Memory

Sep. 13, 2016 — Collaborating in a group to remember information is harmful, new research suggests. The research statistically analysed 64 earlier collaborative remembering studies and found that groups recall less than their individual members would if working ... read more
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Women Do Ask for Pay Rises but Don’t Get Them

Sep. 5, 2016 — New research shows that women ask for wage rises just as often as men, but men are 25 per cent more likely to get a raise when they ... read more
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