Scientists have discovered a new enigmatic species of ant coming from the Philippines. Cardiocondyla pirata or the pirate ant engages the imagination with a bizarre pigmentation pattern that has no equivalent worldwide. The female castes [...]
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Enrichment therapy effective among children with autism
Low-cost, at-home treatment involves sensory exercises with common household items Children with autism showed significant improvement after six months of simple sensory exercises at home using everyday items such as scents, spoons and sponges, according [...]
Poliovirus vaccine trial shows early promise for recurrent glioblastoma
An attack on glioblastoma brain tumor cells that uses a modified poliovirus is showing encouraging results in an early study to establish the proper dose level, researchers at Duke Cancer Institute report. The treatment, developed [...]
Vitamin C can kill drug-resistant TB
In a striking, unexpected discovery, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have determined that vitamin C kills drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) bacteria in laboratory culture. The finding suggests that vitamin C added [...]
14 closely related crocodiles existed around 5 million years ago
Nowadays, the most diverse species of crocodile are found in northern South America and Southeast Asia: As many as six species of alligator and four true crocodiles exist, although no more than two or three [...]
Common Food Supplement Fights Brain Disorders
Widely available in pharmacies and health stores, phosphatidylserine is a natural food supplement produced from beef, oysters, and soy. Proven to improve cognition and slow memory loss, it’s a popular treatment for older people experiencing [...]
Judge, jury and wine executioner…I mean enthusiast.
I received a desperate e-mail earlier this week — why was I no longer blogging? Had I fallen in a ditch? Turned to climate change denial? Dropped out of science writing and joined a convent? [...]
The Mammoth’s Lament: How Cosmic Impact Sparked Devastating Climate Change
Herds of wooly mammoths once shook the earth beneath their feet, sending humans scurrying across the landscape of prehistoric Ohio. But then something much larger shook the Earth itself, and at that point these mega [...]
NASA Builds Unusual Testbed for Analyzing X-ray Navigation Technologies
Pulsars have a number of unusual qualities. Like zombies, they shine even though they’re technically dead, and they rotate rapidly, emitting powerful and regular beams of radiation that are seen as flashes of light, blinking [...]
Asthma symptoms impair sleep quality, school performance in children
The negative effects of poorly controlled asthma symptoms on sleep quality and academic performance in urban schoolchildren has been confirmed in a new study. “While it has been recognized that missed sleep and school absences [...]
Child maltreatment increases risk of adult obesity
Children who have suffered maltreatment are 36% more likely to be obese in adulthood compared to non-maltreated children, according to a new study by King’s College London. The authors estimate that the prevention or effective [...]
‘Whodunnit’ of Irish potato famine solved
It is the first time scientists have decoded the genome of a plant pathogen and its plant host from dried herbarium samples. This opens up a new area of research to understand how pathogens evolve [...]
Resistance to last-line antibiotic colistin makes bacteria resistant to immune system
Bacteria resistant to the antibiotic colistin are also commonly resistant to antimicrobial substances made by the human body, according to a study in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. Cross-resistance [...]
Genetic predictors of postpartum depression uncovered
The epigenetic modifications, which alter the way genes function without changing the underlying DNA sequence, can apparently be detected in the blood of pregnant women during any trimester, potentially providing a simple way to foretell [...]
Timing of cancer radiation therapy may minimize hair loss
Discovering that mouse hair has a circadian clock – a 24-hour cycle of growth followed by restorative repair – researchers suspect that hair loss in humans from toxic cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy might be minimized [...]
Practice makes perfect? Not so much
Turns out, that old “practice makes perfect” adage may be overblown. New research led by Michigan State University’s Zach Hambrick finds that a copious amount of practice is not enough to explain why people differ [...]
Apigenin: The compound in the Mediterranean diet that makes cancer cells ‘mortal’
New research suggests that a compound abundant in the Mediterranean diet takes away cancer cells’ “superpower” to escape death. By altering a very specific step in gene regulation, this compound essentially re-educates cancer cells into [...]
Human-like opponents lead to more aggression in video game players
Video games that pit players against human-looking characters may be more likely to provoke violent thoughts and words than games where monstrous creatures are the enemy, according to a new study by researchers at the [...]
How bilinguals switch between languages
Individuals who learn two languages at an early age seem to switch back and forth between separate “sound systems” for each language, according to new research conducted at the University of Arizona. The research, to [...]
Gym class reduces probability of obesity, study finds for first time
Little is known about the effect of physical education (PE) on child weight, but a new study from Cornell University finds that increasing the amount of time that elementary schoolchildren spent in gym class reduces [...]
Needed: Breakup of physician, drug co. relationship
A new report suggests that improved health care and significant reductions in drug costs might be attained by breaking up the age-old relationship between physicians and drug company representatives who promote the newest, more costly [...]
1 in 10 teens using ‘study drugs,’ but parents aren’t paying attention
As high schoolers prepare for final exams, teens nationwide may be tempted to use a “study drug” — a prescription stimulant or amphetamine — to gain an academic edge. But a new University of Michigan [...]
Compressed Air as Energy Storage
Enough Northwest wind energy to power about 85,000 homes each month could be stored in porous rocks deep underground for later use, according to a new, comprehensive study. Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific [...]
More than half of spiders have abandoned building webs
The great ecological success of spiders is often substantiated by the evolution of silk and webs. Biologists of the Kiel University and the University of Bern now found an alternative adaptation to hunting prey: hairy [...]
Ginger compounds may be effective in treating asthma symptoms
Gourmands and foodies everywhere have long recognized ginger as a great way to add a little peppery zing to both sweet and savory dishes; now, a study from researchers at Columbia University shows purified components [...]
Sweet! Candy industry says frequent intake not linked to obesity or heart disease
At a time when the spotlight is focused on obesity more than ever, new research suggests that frequency of candy consumption is not associated with weight or certain adverse health risks. According to a recent [...]
Robots learn to take a proper handoff by following digitized human examples
A humanoid robot can receive an object handed to it by a person with something approaching natural, human-like motion thanks to a new method developed by scientists at Disney Research, Pittsburgh in a project partially [...]
Basic Research – What’s the Point?
I am what is known in the research trade as a ‘basic’ researcher. It’s not that my work is simple. What basic research means is that the work doesn’t have any immediate real world application. [...]
Why bullies thrive at work
Despite resistance to bullying from both employers and employees, many workplace bullies achieve high levels of career success, according to a new study from the University at Buffalo School of Management. Published in the Journal [...]
Kinks and curves at the nanoscale
One of the basic principles of nanotechnology is that when you make things extremely small—one nanometer is about five atoms wide, 100,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair—they are going to become [...]