Tylenol and other paracetamol painkillers may hinder the brain’s error-correction mechanisms
It’s been known for more than a century that acetaminophen (also known as paracetamol and marketed as Tylenol and Panadol)…
Urgent rethink required on Earth’s carbon-sinks, suggests study
In a new study that expands our understanding of how humans contribute to global warming, scientists have discovered that human…
Generalized constructal law shows that evolution doesn’t apply only to biological things
A law of physics that explains why larger animals live longer and travel further can be extended to the simplest…
Stimulants’ ADHD calming mechanism revealed
When Dr. Charles Bradley administered Benzedrine to a group of children with hyperactivity in 1937 a new era of psychopharmacology…
Gaian bottleneck means alien life never persists, say Oz astrobiologists
Life on other planets would likely be brief and become extinct very quickly, according to a new paper by astrobiologists…
Could suicide be a variant of an evolutionarily adaptive set of behaviors?
Snapping shrimp, naked mole rats, ants, honeybees, and humans – what do they all have in common? They all share…
fMRI data trove yields new insights into consciousness and abstract thought
Using 20 years of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from tens of thousands of brain imaging experiments, neuroscientists at…
Brain inflammation linked to compromised reward circuits in depression
Around one third of people with depression have high levels of inflammation markers in their blood. Now, new research appearing…
Sunscreen killing coral reefs
Oxybenzone, a UV-filtering compound used in sunscreens, has been found in high concentrations in the waters around popular coral reefs…
Placebo response growing over time – but only in America
A new study finds that rising placebo responses may play a part in the increasingly high failure rate for clinical…
Electronic implant bypasses brain damage by re-encoding memories
Designed to help individuals suffering from memory loss, a new prosthesis which includes a small array of electrodes implanted into…
Study identifies recipe for Goldilocks quantum phase transitions
University of Miami researchers have found that crossing a quantum phase transition at just-the-right speed generates the richest, most complex…
“Molecules” made of light may be possible, say physicists
A team including theoretical physicists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has taken a step toward building…
Zoloft appears to alter brain structures, say U.S. researchers
Experiments with monkeys showed that the antidepressant sertraline (marketed as Zoloft) significantly increased the volume of one brain region in…
Magnetic wormhole connecting two regions of space created by Spanish physicists
Physicists at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona have designed and created in the laboratory the first experimental wormhole that can…
“Intraterrestrial” life found in rocks below the seafloor.
The discovery that ancient rocks harbored microbial life deep below the seafloor confirms a long-standing hypothesis that interactions between mantle…
How climate change created the modern dog
Appearing in Nature Communications, a new study of dog fossils suggests that the evolutionary path of whole groups of predators…
Marine organisms evolving in response to ocean acidification
Researchers at Plymouth University have found that polychaete worms living in acidified waters exhibit a tendency to nurture their offspring…
Bonobo communication similar to that of human infants, suggests new study
Researchers from the University of Birmingham (UK) and the University of Neuchatel (Switzerland) have found that wild bonobos, our closest…
New technique for thought-controlled data input almost as accurate as one-fingered typing
When we type or perform other precise tasks, our brains and muscles usually work together effortlessly. But when a neurological…
New definition of chaos proposed
The idea that the flapping of a butterfly’s wings might trigger a hurricane beautifully encapsulates the concept of chaos, where…
NASA discover Earth’s twin 1,400 light-years away
The Kepler mission has found the first near-Earth-size planet – called Kepler-452b – in the “habitable zone” around a G2…
Could solar flares be triggering birth defects?
It’s known that airplane crews at high altitude are exposed to potentially harmful levels of radiation from cosmic rays, but…
Innovative lightweight metal foam set to protect astronauts
Lightweight composite metal foams are effective at blocking X-rays, gamma rays and neutron radiation, say researchers from North Carolina State…
Stimulant drug abuse appears to reduce brain volume in women but not men
Using MRI to study the brains of cocaine and meth users, researchers found that while the women demonstrated widespread brain…
Reusable shopping bags trigger junk food purchases
Bringing reusable bags to the grocery store can mean you’re an environmentally friendly shopper. But a new study in the…
Physicists map conductivity change in transition from 3 to 2 dimensions
Scientists from the Moscow Institute Of Physics And Technology and Tulane University (New Orleans) have for the first time described…
Universe may be less crowded than we think
Detailing their work in Astrophysical Journal Letters, a team of scientists suggest there may be far fewer galaxies in the…
Key element of human language discovered in Australian bird
Stringing together meaningless sounds to create meaningful signals was previously thought to be the preserve of humans alone, but a…
Could our beliefs about human consciousness and the notion of self be completely wrong?
Consciousness – the internal dialogue that seems to govern one’s thoughts and actions -is far less powerful than people believe,…