Top Science News
February 19, 2016

Pluto's largest moon may have gotten too big for its own skin. Images from NASA's New Horizons mission suggest that Pluto's moon Charon once had a subsurface ocean that has long since frozen and ... read more
Researchers have successfully simulated how a ring-shaped black hole could cause general relativity to break down: assuming the universe contains at least five dimensions, that ... read more
Researchers report strong evidence of an interbreeding event between Neanderthals and modern humans occurring around 100,000 years ago, much earlier ... read more
A common ancestor of apes and humans, Chororapithecus abyssinicus, evolved in Africa, not Eurasia, two million years earlier than previously thought, ... read more
Latest Top Headlines
updated 2:23pm EST

Health News
February 19, 2016

Researchers have successfully disrupted a genetic chain of events in a mouse model of schizophrenia and reversed memory deficits, one of the disorder's most difficult-to-treat symptoms. This ... read more
An analysis of scientific reports and comments on the health effects of a salty diet reveals a polarization between those supportive of the hypothesis that population-wide reduction of salt intake is ... read more
People who drink wine, liquor or beer regularly are less prone to heart failure and heart attacks than those who rarely or never drink. Three to five drinks a week can be good for your ... read more
Half the world's population (nearly 5 billion) will be short-sighted (myopic) by 2050, with up to one-fifth of them (1 billion) at a significantly increased risk of blindness if current trends ... read more
Latest Health Headlines
updated 2:23pm EST

Physical/Tech News
February 19, 2016

The first successful detection of gases in the atmosphere of a super-Earth reveals the presence of hydrogen and helium, but no water vapor. The ... read more
Physicians and biomedical engineers from Johns Hopkins report what they believe is the first successful effort to wiggle fingers individually and independently of each other using a mind-controlled ... read more
In what may provide a potential path to processing information in a quantum computer, researchers have switched an intrinsic property of electrons from an excited state to a relaxed state on demand ... read more
Using a sophisticated, custom-designed 3-D printer, regenerative medicine scientists have proved that it is feasible to print living tissue structures to replace injured or diseased tissue in ... read more
Latest Physical/Tech Headlines
updated 2:23pm EST

Environment News
February 19, 2016

By using satellites, biologists are now able to map which areas are most sensitive to climate variability on a global scale. A new metric, Vegetation Sensitivity Index (VSI), allows a more ... read more
By 2050 climate change will increase the groundwater deficit even more for four economically important aquifers in the western US. The new report is the first to integrate scientists' knowledge about ... read more
Palaeontologists have shed new light on some unusual dinosaur tracks from northern China. The tracks appear to have been made by four-legged sauropod dinosaurs yet only two of their feet have left ... read more
A genetic study on the courtship behavior of mutant fruit flies may illuminate human sexual ... read more
Latest Environment Headlines
updated 2:23pm EST

Society/Education News
February 19, 2016

A major international study has provided a fresh perspective on how children around the world feel about their lives. The Children's Worlds study asked children about all key aspects of their lives ... read more
At the rate humans are emitting carbon into the atmosphere, Earth may suffer irreparable damage that could last tens of thousands of years, according to a new analysis published this ... read more
Why do we remember some events, places and things, but not others? Our brains prioritize rewarding memories over others, and reinforce them by replaying them when we are at rest, according to new ... read more
When carbon dioxide is stored underground in a process known as geological sequestration, it can find multiple escape pathways due to chemical reactions between carbon dioxide, water, rocks and ... read more
Latest Society/Education Headlines
updated 2:23pm EST