Gene For Drug Abuse Busted
In a major finding in the search for genes of addiction, researchers at the University of South Florida and the…
Lack Of Inhibition Strengthens Nicotine Addiction
Brief exposure to low levels of nicotine not only boosts the brain’s ‘reward’ system but also blocks a rival system…
Butterfly Wings Key To Morphological Evolution
The beautiful patterns on butterfly wings are emerging as exceptional model systems that may reveal much about how the shapes,…
Cold Fusion – The Sequel
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Russian Academy of Sciences have reported results that suggest…
Aerosol Pollution May Defeat Greenhouse Effect
Atmospheric scientists have long suspected that microscopic aerosol particles from industrial processes increase the brightness of clouds, resulting in greater…
Natural Selection Pivotal In Molecular Evolution
Researchers from the University of Chicago have demonstrated that natural selection plays a much larger role in molecular evolution than…
Microbes Survive 50 Kilometers Inside The Earth
Until now, scientists thought that only specially adapted organisms they call extremophiles could exist in seemingly intolerable environments such as…
In Search Of Extra Dimensions
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a persistent one,” according to the late Albert Einstein. But, “if everything is an…
Arctic Ice Cap Could Disappear
The Arctic ice cap is shrinking� that much is known with certainty. Over the past century, the extent of the…
How Mature Adult Cells Are Cloned
Researchers from Rudolf Jaenisch’s lab at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research have taken a significant step toward answering a…
Breakthrough In Propellant-Free Space Propulsion
Propellant-free propulsion technology has taken a critical step toward reality, completing a series of systems tests at NASA’s Marshall Space…
First Light-Tunable ‘Plastic’ Magnet Developed
Low-cost, flexible electronics and better computer data storage might result from the world’s first light-tunable plastic magnet, just developed at…
Fewer Clouds Indicate Climate Change
After examining 22 years of satellite measurements, NASA researchers find that more sunlight entered the tropics and more heat escaped…
Researchers Turn Viruses Into Nano Building Blocks
Using a combination of chemistry and molecular genetics, researchers at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and The Skaggs Institute for…
Neuroscientists Find Brain Regions Involved In Imitation
In a pair of pioneering studies, a French and American team of social-cognitive neuroscientists have identified a network of brain…
Perception Stored In Single Neurones
Our perception of objects depends on our prior experience with them. What most people would call a bird is “obviously”…
Is Intelligence Fixed?
According to neuro and cognitive scientists, different intellectual abilities are based on neural circuits that require environmental stimulation for development…
Global Cooling In Antarctica
Antarctica overall has cooled measurably during the last 35 years – despite a global average increase in air temperature of…
Scientific Bias Causing Mass Extinctions
Scientific bias towards the cute, unique or spectacular may be helping condemn a substantial proportion of the world’s plants and…
Army Researching Stink Bombs
Department of Defense officials have asked researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia to create a universally offensive…
A Genetic Basis for Obsessive Grooming
A gene involved in setting up the mammalian body plan also appears to control grooming behavior in mice. Researchers who…
Fat Gene Discovered
Independent scientific research groups from Pfizer and Harvard Medical School have discovered a critical gene responsible for fat cell development.…
Controlling Electron Spin Electrically
Researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) report in the Dec. 6 issue of Nature the first…
Quantum Computer Solves Problem
Scientists at IBM’s Almaden Research Center have performed the world’s most complicated quantum-computer calculation to date. They caused a billion…
Antarctic Mud Reveals Global Climate Change
Scientists concerned about global warming are especially troubled by dramatic signs of climate change in Antarctica – from rapidly melting…
Strategies To Reduce Global Warming Could Backfire
Blocking the sun may not be such a cool way of counteracting climate change, scientists at the University of Illinois…
Pollution Disrupting Earth’s Water Supply
According to a United Nations Population Fund report released Nov. 7, water use has grown six-fold over the past 70…
Antarctic Lakes May Harbor Unique Ecosystems
Liquid lakes buried thousands of meters below the Antarctic ice sheet are likely the home to unique habitats and creatures…
Stem Cells Turned Into Neurons
In a set of meticulous experiments, scientists have demonstrated the ability of human embryonic stem cells to develop into nascent…
One Billion Deaths From Tobacco
In the October issue of the journal Nature Cancer Reviews, Penn State science historian Robert Proctor predicts that, left unchecked,…