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…
Kitchens worse than city centers for pollutants
Examining indoor pollutant levels from gas and electric cookers, University of Sheffield (UK) researchers found that gas kitchens had pollutant…
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…
Insomnia caused by fear of the dark?
Canadian researchers say that an adult fear of the dark may be a contributing factor in cases of insomnia. The…
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…
Coolness no longer cool, say boffins
An intriguing new study – “Coolness: An Empirical Investigation” – suggests that the characteristics associated with coolness today are markedly…
Scientists tip 2025 for possible planetary collapse
Based on an evaluation of more than 1,000 previous studies, a new meta-review by an international group of 18 scientists…
Social behavior shared across all vertebrates
Humans, birds, fish and frogs appear to share the same ancient neural circuits that are responsible for a range of…
Mosquitoes use tai chi to fly through rain
Using high speed video, researchers from Georgia Tech have observed how mosquitoes can fly through rain even though a single…
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…
U.S. heads getting bigger
In the space of less than 200 years, the average U.S. Caucasian skull size has increased nearly 7 percent, becoming…
Andromeda-Milky Way collision visualized
After nearly a century of speculation about the future destiny of Andromeda and our own Milky Way galaxy, scientists at…
Body odor reveals age
Reporting their findings in the journal PLoS ONE, researchers from the Monell Center say that humans can estimate the age…
Birds are baby dinosaurs, say Harvard scientists
Birds and dinosaurs are more closely related than previously thought, say scientists who claim that modern birds are, essentially, living…
Families forged from female food fanciers
A new mathematical simulation shows that the most commonly proposed theories for the emergence of human pair-bonding are not biologically…
Science literacy of dubious value in climate change assessment
Is there disagreement over climate change because some people lack science literacy and numeracy? If the public knew more basic…
PVC flooring chemicals taken up by skin contact
Higher levels of the plastics chemicals known as phthalates have been found in children from homes containing PVC flooring materials,…
Quantum effect in photosynthesis leaves researchers mystified
Using ultrafast spectroscopy, scientists have observed what happens at the subatomic level during the very first stage of photosynthesis and…
Nomad planets seeding life throughout the universe?
According to new calculations, planets adrift in space without a “home” solar system are abundant in the universe and scientists…
Synthetic excrement touted as solution to gastric woes
Typically acquired after a course of antibiotics,Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infections are skyrocketing, and medicos from Queen’s University in Canada…
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…
First inexact computer chip aimed at developing world
Moving from theory to reality, US researchers have unveiled the world’s first inexact computer chip (pictured). Error checking on the…
Bird poo and manta rays: nature’s intricate connectivity revealed
One of the longest ecological interaction chains ever documented sheds light on how human disturbance of the natural world may…
Earliest cave art was erotica, say anthropologists
A block of limestone in southwestern France is adorned with what anthropologists believe are engravings of female genitalia dating back…
US diet engenders stupidity
A new UCLA study with rodents is the first to show how a diet high in fructose sabotages memory and…
Thought-controlled robotic arm demonstrated
A paralyzed woman has been able to reach for and sip from a drink on her own by using her…
Ovulation goggles make Mr Wrong look like Mr Right
Nice guys finish last when women are wearing ovulation goggles, say University of Texas researchers who have been investigating exactlywhy…
Carbon emission levels from deforestation challenged
When trees are felled to create solid wood products – such as lumber for housing – the wood retains most…