TV remotes a bacterial cocktail
A study that investigated bacterial populations on hotel room surfaces found television remote controls and housekeeping carts to be amongst…
First genetically evolved semiconductors created
By directing the evolution of silicateins, the proteins responsible for the formation of silica skeletons in marine sponges, scientists at…
Sperm quality unaffected by lifestyle choices
Medical advice given to sub-fertile men about smoking, alcohol, drugs and obesity is of little value, say UK medicos who…
Capitalism on the couch: psychoanalyzing the credit crisis
Corporations and entire Western economies displayed the same kind of manic behavior as psychologically disturbed individuals during the 2008 credit…
Antidepressants in water induce autism-like gene expression in fish
Antidepressants and other psychoactive medications in water affect the gene expression profiles of fish in a way that mimics the…
Energy poverty linked to cognitive deficits
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside and Pitzer College say they have found children exposed to open-fire cooking in…
Virus linked to macular degeneration
US scientists have found that a type of herpes-virus infection of the eye is associated with age-related macular degeneration, a…
US diet engenders stupidity
A new UCLA study with rodents is the first to show how a diet high in fructose sabotages memory and…
Single gene mutation responsible for modern humans
Scientists believe that the appearance of a partial, duplicate copy of a gene, occurring around the time that the Australopithecus…
Parkinson’s treated with Victorian era device
A 19th century “vibration chair” has been found by Rush University researchers to significantly improve some of the symptoms of…
Genes a good predictor of social status
Scientists using an experimental approach to observe how gene expression patterns correlate with social dominance claim that gene expression can…
Slow food, better mood
“The more fast food you consume, the greater the risk of depression,” say Spanish researchers who have linked the consumption…
Researchers mull tobacco’s restorative effects on self control
A new study that indicates smoking has a restorative effect on an individual’s self-control resources has researchers pondering other self-control…
Exposure to plastic chemical leads to shorter reproductive life
Mice exposed to high doses of a common plasticizing chemical in utero exhibit significant reproductive alterations and precancerous lesions as…
Trans fats and aggression: the Twinkie defense gets scientific
University of California, San Diego researchers have provided the first evidence linking the consumption of trans fats with a range…
Analysis shows circumcision link to prostate cancer
Observational data from a new study published in the journal Cancer reveal that men who had been circumcised before their…
Art therapy not so therapeutic for schizophrenics
For people with schizophrenia, UK national treatment guidelines recommend group art therapy to improve mental health and social functioning, but…
Female brain frazzled by mild dehydration
Mild dehydration – which occurs when the body has lost just 1.5 percent of its normal water content – can…
Energy poverty killing more people than malaria
A lack of clean energy for cooking is causing severe respiratory diseases that kill around two million people each year,…
Calorie intake linked to cognitive impairment
Consuming more than 2,100 calories per day appears to double the risk of cognitive impairment in the elderly, according to…
Gender behaviors directly manipulated
Uncovering the individual genes that are directly influenced by testosterone and estrogen has allowed University of California, San Francisco scientists…
Funding for artificial testicle project will get ball rolling
A joint venture between two US companies to develop an artificial testicle has been awarded funding from the National Institute…
Scientists scope effects of marijuana ingredients via MRI
MRI brain scans of marijuana users under the influence of either tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or cannabidiol (CBD) show that one chemical…
Hazardous levels of noise exposure for 90% of city dwellers
Nearly all city folk are exposed to sound levels that can cause permanent hearing loss, but University of Michigan researchers…
Lower calorie intake provides brain boost
A low caloric diet changes the chemistry in the brain, enhancing both cognitive performance and memory, a discovery which scientists…
Protein discovered in semen “attracts HIV like a magnet”
The scientists at the Gladstone Institutes who discovered new protein fragments in semen that enhance the ability of HIV to…
More evidence for environmental chemicals contributing to Parkinson’s disease
A new twin study has found a significant association between exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE) and other chemicals used in dry…
BPA levels in canned soup unexpectedly high
In one of the first studies to investigate levels of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in canned food, Harvard researchers…
Unusual physiological changes observed after adolescent sex
Working with adolescent male and mature female hamsters, researchers have found that sex during adolescence can have effects on the…
Contraceptive pill to blame for rise in prostate cancer?
Intriguing new findings from Canadian researchers link rates of prostate cancer around the globe to environmental estrogen pollution caused by…