‘Ice age blob’ of warm ocean water discovered south of Greenland
New research published in Scientific Reports in February indicates that a warm ocean surface water prevailed during the last ice age, sandwiched between two major ice sheets just south of Greenland. Extreme climate changes in the past Ice core records show that...
Ancient lone star lizard lounged in lush, tropical Texas
Researchers have discovered a new species of extinct worm lizard in Texas and dubbed it the “Lone Star” lizard. The species — the first known example of a worm lizard in Texas — offers evidence that Texas acted as a subtropical refuge during...
Does sexual aggression alter the female brain?
Rutgers scientists have taken a step toward understanding how sexual aggression alters the female brain. In a recent study in Scientific Reports, lead author Tracey Shors, professor in the Department of Psychology and Center for Collaborative Neuroscience in the...
Breaking through the bacteria barrier
Genetically engineering any organism requires first getting its cells to take in foreign DNA. To do this, scientists often perform a process called electroporation, in which they expose cells to an electric field. If that field is at just the right magnitude, it will...
Dementia appears on the decline
he rate of dementia among Americans aged 65 and older appears to be on the decline, even though more American men and women are living longer, a USC-led team of researchers has found. Also in their analysis, the researchers found that the length of life with dementia...
Grandmas make a huge difference to a baby elephants’ survival
Grandmas play a very important role in the long-term success of an elephant herd, reveals University of Stirling research. Phyllis Lee, Behavioural Psychologist at the University of Stirling, led a study analysing data from 834 female elephants in Amboseli National...
Scientists discover bird blood cell which destroys fatal fungal infection
Scientists have discovered that a specialised white blood cell found in birds can destroy a potentially fatal fungal infection which affects more than one million people every year. Cryptococcus neoformans is a fungus that causes fatal infections in those with a...
Half the world to be short-sighted by 2050
Half the world’s population (nearly 5 billion) will be short-sighted (myopic) by 2050, with up to one-fifth of them (1 billion) at a significantly increased risk of blindness if current trends continue, says a study published in the journal Ophthalmology. The...
Marijuana smokers 5x more likely to develop an alcohol problem
Adults who use marijuana are five times more likely to develop an alcohol use disorder (AUD) –alcohol abuse or dependence– compared with adults who do not use the drug. And adults who already have an alcohol use disorder and use marijuana are more likely...
Mystery of Disappearing Asteroids Solved
Ever since it was realized that asteroid and comet impacts are a real and present danger to the survival of life on Earth, it was thought that most of those objects end their existence in a dramatic final plunge into the Sun. A new study published on Thursday in the...
Enabling human-robot rescue teams
Autonomous robots performing a joint task send each other continual updates: “I’ve passed through a door and am turning 90 degrees right.” “After advancing 2 feet I’ve encountered a wall. I’m turning 90 degrees right.” “After advancing 4 feet I’ve encountered a wall.”...
Researchers pinpoint brain region as ‘ground zero’ of Alzheimer’s disease
A critical but vulnerable region in the brain appears to be the first place affected by late onset Alzheimer’s disease and may be more important for maintaining cognitive function in later life than previously appreciated, according to a new review of scientific...
More stroke therapy is not always better
By the time you finish reading this article — about four minutes — someone in America will have had a stroke. In fact, nearly 800,000 people have strokes in the United States every year. It’s the fifth leading cause of death and one of the leading causes of...
Mothers’ groups linked to positive well-being
A Perth study led by researchers from The University of Western Australia has found that participation in a local mothers’ group (facilitated or parent-led) is linked to mothers’ who have a positive mental well-being. The study, published in the Journal of Advanced...
UA Researcher Discovers New Species of Tortoise
Shakespeare’s Juliet once famously pondered “what’s in a name,” and the answer would be $100,000 in the case of the recently discovered Goode’s Thornscrub Tortoise (or Gopherus evgoodei in the Latin), a species native to the area of...
Avocado-substituted diet significantly changes lipid profile
Can a single ingredient swap make an impact on health? According to the recently released 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, small shifts in food choices can make a big difference; including a shift from solid fats to oils, like the oil in fresh avocados. On...
Shark researchers prefer managed fishing to outright ban
University of Miami (UM) Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy researchers investigated the conservation policy preferences of shark scientists, as well as their personal histories of conservation advocacy and their opinions about the environmental non-profit...
