Half Of All Bankruptcies Caused By Medical Bills
New research in the journal Health Affairs indicates that medical problems contributed to half of all bankruptcies in the U.S.,…
Motor Neurons Grown From Stem Cells
After much trial and error, scientists have coaxed human embryonic stem cells into becoming spinal motor neurons, the critical nervous…
Aussie Deserts Created By Ancient Fires
Ancient hunters and gatherers may have triggered the failure of the annual Australian Monsoon some 12,000 years ago by burning…
Waterways Awash With Anti-Bacterial Chemical
Researchers believe that many rivers and streams in the U.S. contain high levels of a toxic antimicrobial chemical – triclocarban…
Genetic Gradient Theory Challenges Evolutionary Ideas
Research published in Science is the first in the world to demonstrate a genetic gradient – or path of gradually…
Researchers Simulate Biological Clock
New York University researchers have developed a model of the intra-cellular mammalian biological clock that reveals how the rapid interaction…
Epilepsy Drugs Slow Aging
A class of anti-seizure medications appears to slow the rate of aging in roundworms, say researchers at Washington University. When…
Map Reveals Dark Matter Clumps
Data from the Hubble Space Telescope has been used to generate a spatial map demonstrating the clumped substructure of dark…
Huygens Countdown Starts
The European Space Agency (ESA), is counting down to January 14, when the Huygens space probe will parachute onto Titan’s…
Nanoparticles Used To Deliver Gene Therapy
University at Buffalo scientists say that a gene therapy method that doesn’t rely on potentially toxic viruses as vectors may…
Antibiotic Misuse A Serious Concern Say Experts
A new study shows that more than half the patients in the United States are taking bacteria-destroying antibiotics for colds,…
Evolution Of Human Brain Unique
The genes that control brain development evolved much more rapidly in humans than in other mammals because of natural selection…
Faulty Brain Activity Causes Some Heart Attacks
University College London (UCL) researchers have discovered that a system which normally coordinates signalling from the brain to different parts…
Jigsaw Puzzles Cause Xmas Arguments But Excite Boffins
Researchers have found that people use a number of different strategies to complete a jigsaw; at the extreme, a person…
Synthetic DNA Refined For Data Processing
Nature’s own data storage material – the DNA molecule – may lend a hand to the information technology industry as…
Crocheting Chaos
The mathematics journal Mathematical Intelligencer has published some intriguing instructions on how to crochet your very own model of chaos.…
Routine Tool Use By Wild Monkeys Observed
University of Georgia psychologist Dorothy Fragaszy and co-researchers, have just published the first direct scientific report of tool use among…
Coral Reefs Set For Rapid Growth
In a research paper appearing in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, Aussie scientists say that coral reefs around the world…
Fertility Risk From Laptop Computers
The increasing popularity of laptop computers, together with evidence that elevated scrotal temperature can result in sperm damage, has prompted…
Shampoo Washes Neurons Down The Drain
An antimicrobial agent found in many shampoos and widely used in industrial applications inhibits the development of neuron structures that…
Glacier Speed-Up Causes Concern
In findings reported in Nature, Greenland’s Jakobshavn Isbrae, the world’s fastest moving glacier, doubled its speed between 1997 and 2003.…
Nutrients Being Bred Out Of Modern Crops
A study of 43 garden crops led by a biochemist from the University of Texas suggests that the nutrient value…
Geologists Say End-Permian Mass Extinction Not Caused By Asteroid
The world’s largest mass extinction occurred some 250 million years ago, wiping out 90 percent of marine life. While some…
Vioxx Whistleblower Points Finger At FDA
The British Medical Journal says that the FDA tried to discredit one of its own experts after he told a…
U.S. Throws Away Half Its Food
While America has been long badged the “throw-away society”, it’s only recently that researchers from the University of Arizona have…
Poor Nutrition Leads To Low IQ
Researchers at the University of Southern California say malnutrition in the first few years of life leads to antisocial and…
Mars-like Soils Can Harbor Life
Chile’s Atacama desert gets rain perhaps once a decade and scientists believed that the driest Atacama soils were sterile. But…
An Apple A Day Keeps Alzheimer’s Away
Researchers at Cornell University say the antioxidant quercetin found in apples and some other fruits and vegetables appears to protect…