Scans reveal brain’s in-built caste system
Reporting their findings in Current Biology, National Institute of Mental Health researchers say that people of higher subjective socioeconomic status…
“Hazardous” drinking levels good for the heart
A controversial new study from Boston University shows that alcohol appears to have cardio-protective effects not only in moderate drinkers,…
Deforestation goes into hyperdrive with rising gold price
Deforestation around the Amazon River in Peru has increased six-fold in recent years as miners, driven by record gold prices,…
Virus improves solar cell efficiency
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a way to make significant improvements to the power-conversion efficiency…
Why are the happiest places also suicide hotspots?
The happiest countries (and happiest U.S. states) have the highest suicide rates; say an international team of researchers, who have…
Laser spark plug to give gas guzzlers new lease on life
The Japanese researchers behind an innovative laser spark plug system say it will improve fuel economy and reduce emissions of…
Novel solar cells utilize light’s magnetic properties
Light has electric and magnetic components but scientists had always believed the effects of the magnetic field to be insignificant.…
Urologists nix surgery in favor of mechanical penile lengtheners
In a rebuff to surgical penile augmentation, a meta-review of studies into penile lengthening recommends that men use non-invasive mechanical…
Win-win for sugarcane biofuel crops
Agricultural cropping typically has a significant warming effect on local climates, but a report in Nature Climate Change indicates that…
Bicycle design: back to the drawing board
How a bicycle stays upright while moving has always been something of a mystery to science, with a vague cocktail…
Drink to remember (subconsciously, at least)
According to researcher Hitoshi Morikawa, repeated ethanol exposure enhances synaptic plasticity in the brain, providing further evidence toward an emerging…
Gene therapy painkiller gets body to produce its own pain relief drugs
University of Michigan scientists running a human trial of the first ever gene therapy treatment for pain relief say that…
Naked chicks baffle penguin boffins
Large numbers of young penguins in colonies around the Atlantic are suffering what is known as feather-loss disorder and scientists…
Physics community buzzing over possible new particle
Experiments at Fermilab’s soon-to-be-mothballed Tevatron particle accelerator in the United States have produced collision outcomes that indicate the existence of…
Retina built using stem cells
The processes involved in the formation of complex tissues and organs involving multiple cell types are still mostly a mystery…
Strong evidence for liquid water in comet
The idea that comets are “dirty snowballs” frozen in time looks set for revision now that scientists have found evidence…
Women: they don’t make ’em like they used to
A study of 16th century European skulls by North Carolina State University researchers has found that women are beginning to…
Penn State researchers uncover new type of symmetry
The discovery of a new type of symmetry in the structure of materials will greatly expand the options available for…
Spin sensitivity of DNA surprises researchers
Weizmann Institute researchers investigating quantum interactions in biological molecules have shown that DNA is extremely sensitive to particle “spin.” Their…