15 May 2008
Hunger's Longevity Effect Due To Altered Hormonal System
Comparing the effects of caloric restriction and exercise on longevity, new experiments have shown that while exercise does not extend lifespan, caloric restriction does by subtly changing the metabolic system...

14 May 2008
New Physiological Evidence For Social Anxiety Disorder
Dutch researchers report direct evidence for the involvement of the brain's dopamine regulation system in social anxiety disorder, demonstrating that social anxiety has a physical, brain dependent component...

13 May 2008
Cell Phones More Expensive Than Hubble Space Comms
A British space scientist has calculated that cell phone texting is at least four times more expensive than receiving scientific data from the Hubble Space Telescope...

12 May 2008
HIV Prevention Message Failing In Africa
The most common HIV prevention strategies - condoms, HIV testing, treatment of other sexually transmitted infections and abstinence - are having a limited impact on the predominantly heterosexual epidemics occurring in Africa...

9 May 2008
Folding Proteins For Fun And Profit
A new computer game, called Foldit, turns protein folding into a competitive sport for anyone with a computer. Its creators say Foldit capitalizes on people's natural 3-D problem-solving skills and they hope to get a significant fraction of the world's population working on solving critical health problems...

8 May 2008
Biodiversity: It's In The Water
A new method for predicting biodiversity, described by its creators as "ridiculously simple," uses only the geomorphology of a river network and rainfall measurements to accurately predict the biodiversity of species in a river system...

7 May 2008
Epigenetic Changes Discovered In Abuse Victims' Brains
Scientists have discovered important differences between the brains of suicide victims who suffered abuse as children and so-called normal brains. The differences are in their epigenetic marking – a chemical coating on the DNA that is influenced by environmental factors...

6 May 2008
Fungi Enlisted To Clean-Up Depleted Uranium
In a discovery that could have important implications for the clean-up of war ravaged countries, researchers have found evidence that fungi can "lock" depleted uranium into a mineral form that would be less likely to find its way into plants, animals, or the water supply...

5 May 2008
Solar System's "Bouncing" Linked To Mass Extinction Events
A new computer model of our solar system's movement relative to the Milky Way indicates that it "bounces" up and down through the plane of the galaxy; a cycle that scientists say is a "beautiful match" with the mass extinction events that occur periodically on Earth...

2 May 2008
Lack Of A McShrinky Makes Therapy Unappealing
Television's portrayal of psychological counselors as either buffoons or unethical clods in shows like Frasier, Tell Me You Love Me and In Treatment, makes people less willing to seek professional mental health services, suggests a new study...

1 May 2008
Electromagnetic Fields Disrupt Newborns' Heart Rates
The electromagnetic fields produced by hospital incubators can interfere with newborn babies’ heart rates, potentially creating problems for infants born prematurely who may spend extended periods in incubators...

30 April 2008
Nanoparticle Laced Wastewater Could Compromise Treatment Plants
The silver nanoparticles used in a growing number of consumer products can wreak havoc with the benign bacteria that are used by water treatment plants to remove ammonia from wastewater...

29 April 2008
Graphene's "Muffin-Tin" Nanodots Explained
Researchers believe they now understand how graphene - a featureless, flat sheet of carbon atoms - lying on an equally featureless iridium surface, converted itself into a kind of "muffin tin" that formed identically sized and spaced muffins out of applied iridium atoms...

28 April 2008
Quantum-Hall Effect Observed, Sans Magnetic Field
The quantum-Hall effect (where electrons condense into an exotic quantum fluid) was thought to only occur in specially prepared materials under the influence of an intense magnetic field, but US researchers have observed the effect in a bulk crystal of bismuth-antimony without any magnetic field being present...

24 April 2008
More Evidence Of Link Between Reproductive System And Aging
Eliminating the cells that make eggs and sperm in fruit flies extends the flies' lifespan, suggesting that molecular signals from the reproductive system are directly linked to aging and metabolism in animals...

23 April 2008
Zeroing-In On Epigenetic Inheritance Mechanism
US reseachers say they now understand how "silent" heterochromatin (tightly packed clumps of DNA where the genes are effectively turned off) can be transcribed into interfering RNA and inherited across generations...

22 April 2008
Stem Cell Decimation Behind "Chemo Brain"
Chemotherapy agents are recognized to have a negative impact on brain function in cancer patients but the precise mechanisms that underlie this cognitive dysfunction are only now being identified...

20 April 2008
Harnessing The Coriolis Force
Created by the rotation of the Earth, the force that causes whirlpools to form in bathtubs could soon be used to boost traditional hydroelectric power generation by 27 percent, says the inventor of a new turbine...

18 April 2008
Smallest Transistor Created With Graphene
UK researchers have used the world's thinnest material, graphene, to create the world's smallest transistor, one atom thick and ten atoms wide...

17 April 2008
ETs Very Unlikely, New Calculations Suggest
The chance of intelligent life emerging on another planet is very low - less than 0.01 per cent over four billion years, according to a new mathematical model...

16 April 2008
Quantifying Space Radiation Dangers
Cancer researchers are working to estimate the risk astronauts on long voyages will face from exposure to the high energy radiation that is ubiquitous in space...

15 April 2008
Laser Used To Get Thundercloud Sparking
Using a powerful ground-based laser, European scientists were able to induce electrical activity in thunderclouds, a precursor to producing lightning strikes on demand...

14 April 2008
New Understanding Of Insect Olfactory Mechanism
Insects have adopted a strategy to detect odors that is radically different from those of other organisms - an unexpected and controversial finding that may dissolve current ideology...

11 April 2008
Spit-Swap Forces Changes To DNA Testing
Protocols for DNA testing are being revised after a man attempted to foil a DNA paternity test by placing another man's saliva in his mouth...

10 April 2008
"Paradoxical Pharmacology" Yields Radical New Asthma Treatment
One of the tenets of the Hippocratic Oath – first do no harm – has been ignored in the development of a new asthma treatment that initially worsens symptoms before eventually improving overall health...

9 April 2008
Evolution Leaves "Fingerprint" Across Human Genome
Turning genetic information into proteins leaves genetic fingerprints, even on regions of the DNA that are not involved in coding for the final protein...

8 April 2008
Organics Shaping Up As Next Wave In Digital Signal Processing
Performing digital signal processing using organic and chemical materials without electrical currents looks like being the wave of the future...

7 April 2008
Computer Recognizes Attractiveness In Women
Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but what if the beholder is a software program?

4 April 2008
Animals "Stuck In Time"
Researchers investigating how animals perceive time have found that episodic-like memory in animals is qualitatively different from human episodic memory...

3 April 2008
Water Intake Guidelines Questioned
A study into the health effects of drinking 8 glasses of water a day reveals that most supposed benefits are not backed by solid evidence...

2 April 2008
Paranoia As Common As Depression, Anxiety
A virtual reality subway ride has been used by researchers to reveal the extent that paranoia occurs in the general public...

31 March 2008
Mystery Fevers Cured With Surgery
Persistent childhood fevers that don’t respond to antibiotics seem to be cured by removal of the tonsils, even though the children’s tonsils appear completely normal and don’t show any sign of infection...

27 March 2008
Brain Has Sixth Sense For Calories
New research suggests that the brain can “sense” the calories in food, independent of our normal tasting mechanism...

25 March 2008
Doctors Outline Policy To Prevent Genetic Discrimination
The American College of Physicians has released a policy document which they believe should be integral to new laws to protect against genetic discrimination in employment and insurance...

20 March 2008
Roll-Your-Own Enzymes A Reality
UCLA chemists have created designer enzymes for reactions not normally catalyzed in nature, opening the door for scientists to control the reactions that sustain life...

19 March 2008
CO2 Emissions In China Rocketing
The growth in China's carbon dioxide emissions is far outpacing previous estimates, making the goal of stabilizing global atmospheric greenhouse gases even more difficult...

18 March 2008
1st Rule Of Evolution: Strive For Complexity
UK scientists have revealed what may well be the first "rule" of evolution - a pervasive drive to become increasingly more complex...

17 March 2008
Brain's Secondary Depth-Perception Mechanism Uncovered
Neuroscientists have identified a small part of the brain that processes the image from a single eye, the motion of our bodies and the motion of our eyeball, to allow us to perceive depth with only one eye...

14 March 2008
Meteorites Spiced Up Primordial Soup
The organic soup that spawned life on Earth may have gotten some special ingredients from outer space...

12 March 2008
Epigenetic Changes Found In Schizophrenics
For the first time, scientists have discovered epigenetic changes (chemical changes to a gene that do not alter the DNA sequence) in individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder...

11 March 2008
Real And Virtual Systems Merged In Mixed Reality State
Using a virtual pendulum and its real-world counterpart, scientists using "bidirectional instantaneous coupling" have created the first mixed reality state in a physical system...

10 March 2008
Brits Invite ET Over For Corn Chips
Snack food company Doritos is sponsoring a competition to beam a user-created advertisement (using a 2-billion watt transmitter) at a solar system 42 light years away from Earth...

7 March 2008
First Light For Binocular Telescope
The Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona has captured images using its twin, side-by-side primary mirrors together for the first time, achieving first "binocular" light...

6 March 2008
Rethink On Cause Of Type 2 Diabetes
Growing evidence shows that surgery on the small bowel may effectively cure Type 2 diabetes - an approach that may change the way the disease is treated...

5 March 2008
Expensive Placebo Works Better Than Cheap One
A 10-cent pill doesn't kill pain as well as a $2.50 pill, even when they are identical placebos, finds a new study...

4 March 2008
Bacterial Rainmakers Ubiquitous
Scientists have uncovered evidence linking airborne bacteria from plants to the cycle of precipitation, underscoring the complex interplay between our planet's climate and biosphere...

29 February 2008
"Safer" Cigarettes Back On The Agenda
Scientists have fingered hydrogen peroxide as the cancer causative in cigarette smoke, a finding they hope may lead to "safer" cigarettes...

28 February 2008
This Is Your Brain On Jazz
Using fMRI, two scientists have discovered that when jazz musicians improvise, their brains turn off areas linked to self-censoring and inhibition, and turn on those that let self-expression flow...

27 February 2008
Radical Nano-Vaccines Show Promise
A novel technique using an oil-based emulsion placed in the nose has produced a strong immune response against smallpox and HIV...

26 February 2008
HIV Stigmatization Still Widespread
Stereotypes and misinformation about HIV that are commonplace among the general public are also evident in a surprising number of clinical staff...

22 February 2008
New Institute Plans Exascale Computing
Sandia and Oak Ridge researchers are designing computers that will perform a million trillion calculations per second...

21 February 2008
Fat Cats, Diabetic Dogs Vex Veterinarians
Obesity is affecting an increasing number of pets, with a new study estimating the prevalence of obesity in the canine population at 40 percent...

19 February 2008
"Language" Gene Pooh-Poohed
The evolution of human speech was far more complex than is implied by some recent attempts to link it to a specific gene, says an MIT Prof...

18 February 2008
Plenty Of Earth-Like Planets Out There, Say Astronomers
Astronomers using the Spitzer Space Telescope now believe that at least 1-in-5 neighboring solar-mass stars in the Milky Way may form terrestrial worlds...

15 February 2008
New Cell-Phone Cancer Link
An Israeli study has found that heavy cell phone users are subject to a higher risk of benign and malignant tumors of the salivary gland...

14 February 2008
New World Record For Solar Conversion Efficiency
Sandia National Laboratories have set a new solar-to-grid system conversion efficiency record by achieving a 31.25 percent net efficiency rate...

13 February 2008
Primatologists Snap Rare Gorilla Nookie Pic
Scientists have released the first known photographs of gorillas performing face-to-face copulation in the wild...

12 February 2008
Insects The Likely Winners From Warming Climate
Insects are likely to benefit from our warming climate, with new data linking past spikes in temperature with increased voraciousness in plant-eating insects...

11 February 2008
Subliminal Experiments Uncover Deep-Seated Racism
Research from three US universities reveals that many Americans subconsciously associate blacks with apes...

8 February 2008
GM Cotton Gets First Resistant Pest
Bollworm are the first pests to evolve resistance in the field to plants modified to produce an insecticide called Bt...

7 February 2008
Ink Delivers DNA
Tattooing has been found to be much more effective than intramuscular injection for the delivery of DNA vaccines...

6 February 2008
More Of The Same From The Net
While Internet search results do bring up a variety of useful materials, researchers have found that people pay more attention to information that matches their pre-existing beliefs and prejudices...

5 February 2008
Climate "Tipping Points" Identified
An international team of researchers have described a number of small climatic changes that could have large long-term consequences for the planet...

4 February 2008
California's Water Supply Dwindling
The snowpack in the Sierras has shrunk by 20 percent thanks to our warming climate, leading researchers to warn of a looming water crisis in the Western United States...

31 January 2008
Plastic Bottles And Hot Liquids A Bad Combo
Bisphenol A, an environmental estrogen that is thought to cause reproductive disorders, is released 55 times more rapidly from polycarbonate plastic bottles when they are exposed to hot water...

30 January 2008
Pimped Bacterium Churns Out Hydrogen
Deleting six genes in E. coli's DNA has transformed the bacterium into an extremely efficient hydrogen-producing factory that's powered by sugar...

29 January 2008
Something Fishy About Rocketing Oceanic Nitrogen Levels
The collapse of fishing grounds from over-fishing has played a significant role in disturbing the balance between nitrogen entering and leaving coastal water systems...

25 January 2008
Demographers Mull Effects Of Aging Populations
A new study into the aging populous contends that humanity might be headed for an age of peace, political stability and economic development...

24 January 2008
Liver Recipient Takes On Donor's Immune System
An Australian teenager who received a liver transplant has astonished medical experts by taking on her donor's immune system...

23 January 2008
Cell Phone Radiation Triggers Insomnia
Researchers in the United States and Sweden have found that cell phone use immediately prior to going to bed can disrupt sleep patterns...

22 January 2008
Tweaking Diatoms For Nanofabrication Duties
Unicellular algae known as diatoms could represent the next big breakthrough in computer chip technology...

21 January 2008
New Delivery Method For Gene Therapy
Japanese researchers say they have pioneered a new method of introducing foreign DNA into cells that is simple, cheap and does not use cytotoxic reagents...

18 January 2008
Flexible Electronics Melded With Contact Lens Creates Bionic Eye
Scientists have combined a flexible, biologically safe contact lens with an imprinted electronic circuit and lights...

17 January 2008
Parasite Turns Ants Fruity
A newly discovered parasite dramatically changes its ant host into what appears to be a juicy red berry, thus boosting its chances of being eaten by a bird and spread further afield...

16 January 2008
Glacial Acceleration Linked To "Plumbing" Issues
Meltwater sometimes overwhelms the interior "drainpipes" of glaciers and causes them to lurch forward, possibly explaining the widespread acceleration of glaciers observed worldwide...

15 January 2008
Aggression As Rewarding As Sex
Researchers have discovered that our brain processes aggression as a reward - much like sex, food and drugs...

14 January 2008
High Levels Of Antibiotic Resistance In Arctic Birds
Researchers are alarmed that remote colonies of Arctic birds are carrying antibiotic-resistant bacteria...

11 January 2008
Glacier Woes Overstated?
New research indicates glacial ice existed on Earth during an intense period of global warming during the Cretaceous period...

10 January 2008
Chimp Culture Human-Like
Socially-learned cultural behavior thought to be unique to humans is also found among chimpanzees colonies...

9 January 2008
An Inconvenient Galaxy
The discovery of two new components within a puzzling spiral galaxy confirm that it must have a pair of arms winding in the opposite direction from most other galaxies...

2 January 2008
Polarization Technique Used To "See" Exoplanet
For the first time, astronomers have been able to detect and monitor the visible light that is scattered in the atmosphere of an exoplanet...