Wildlife extinction rates hugely over-reported
Calculating species extinction rates is a tricky business at the best of times, but a new research paper in Nature…
Clone Problems Identified
Despite technological advances, two major problems continue to plague the field of animal cloning: few clones survive to term and…
Dairy intake, heart attack risk not statistically linked
Dairy products may be high in saturated fats but high levels of dairy intake do not statistically increase the risk…
Two legs good, four legs bad – for beating the crap out of each other
Men can punch much harder when they stand on two legs and hit downward rather than when they are on…
Twin-study findings conflict with sex ed dogma
Current sex education curricula recommend abstinence as a way of reducing sexual risk-taking, but a new study appearing inPsychological Science…
Much simpler catalyst could fast-track hydrogen economy
The black mineral stain commonly found on rocks turns out to be a very simple and effective catalyst for replicating…
Light Computer Runs At Quantum Speeds
A simple computer that marries the mind-boggling computing power of quantum mechanics with the ease of manipulating light has been…
Alzheimer’s risk gene begins disrupting brain 50 years before disease hits
Degeneration of myelin in the brain’s white-matter fiber pathways is increasingly considered to be a key component of Alzheimer’s disease…
How Did We Get So Smart?
Princeton and Bell Labs scientists have devised a simple but powerful method for analyzing brain anatomy, providing the first reliable…
High incidence of placebo use in psychiatry
Doctors may not like talking about it, but it’s becoming much more prevalent. A recent McGill University survey found that…
Biofuels’ “green” credentials questioned
Biofuels might not be so “green” after all, say researchers at MIT, who have been doing some calculations based on…
Study reveals how cops spot liars
The ability to effectively detect deception is a cornerstone of successful law enforcement, and now, the investigative interviewing techniques used…
Doctors at Guantánamo Bay get cryptic ethical advice
Medical involvement with torture is prohibited by law and the fundamental tenets of the medical professional, and yet sometimes it…
“Bad” cholesterol not so evil
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) – popularly known as bad cholesterol – turns out to be critical for building muscle mass, and…
Musical Training Boosts Brain Growth
Research has revealed significant differences in the gray matter distribution between professional musicians trained at an early age and non-musicians,…
Schizophrenic computer models mental illness
A computer network that emulates schizophrenia is providing University of Texas at Austin researchers with important insights into the inner…
“Paperphone” prototype demonstrates bend gesture interface
Researchers from Queen’s University in Canada have developed a prototype flexible smartphone interface that allows users to interact with applications…
Mirror neuron development reversed in autistic brain
The brain’s mirror neuron system enables us to better understand and anticipate the actions of others, leading researchers to posit…
Experiments reveal aggression to be a “manhood-restoring tactic”
Manhood is difficult to earn and easy to lose; suggest experiments by University of South Florida psychologists that also showed…
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…