ScienceBlog.com

Several recent research studies published in the United States have determined that young adolescents who see smoking scenes in movies are more likely to smoke. To combat smoking among youth, public health groups have called for Restricted (R) ratings for movies that depict smoking. A new study from New Zealand, however, calls that strategy into question.

As the sizes of sensor networks and mobile devices shrink toward the microscale, and even nanoscale, there is a growing need for suitable power sources. Because even the tiniest battery is too big to be used in nanoscale devices, scientists are exploring nanosize systems that can salvage energy from the environment.

People who have the common chronic pain condition fibromyalgia often report that they don’t respond to the types of medication that relieve other people’s pain. New research from the University of Michigan Health System helps to explain why that might be.

Adding even a small amount of carbon nanotubes can go a long way toward enhancing the strength, integrity, and safety of plastic materials widely used in engineering applications, according to a new study.

While some uncertainty does exist in climate projections and future health vulnerability, overall increases in heat-related premature mortality are likely by the 2050s.

Researchers have used an innovative approach to reveal the molecular basis of altruistic behavior in wasps.

For decades, pundits have predicted new contraceptives for men within the next 5 to 10 years. Are we really getting any closer? Judging from work presented today at the second “Future of Male Contraception” conference, the answer may finally be yes.

Music and language depend on the some of the same neural substrates according to researchers at Georgetown University.

The types of friendships adolescents have often reflect their childhood relationships and predict how they do in the future. In a new study, researchers found that antisocial teenagers’ friendships tend to involve less listening, eye contact, and responsiveness, and that these teens spend more time talking about deviant topics such as substance abuse and breaking the law. However, when these adolescents are in friendships in which they interact more closely, they tend to have higher incidences of problem behavior.

Infants who are raised in bilingual homes learned two similar-sounding words in a laboratory task at a later age than babies who are raised in homes where only one language is spoken.

An enarmous amount of data and information on Earth Sciences are available on the Internet but accessing specific information is time consuming.

Co-inventor of famous MBT shoes examines the effectiveness of the footwear on strengthening the myriad muscles in the foot

NeuroMark, a Boulder, Colorado company, announced a genetic test to identify people at risk of suicidal ideation—thoughts of committing suicide—when prescribed an antidepressant drug.

I got the following from my undergraduate classmate and friend, Larry Sulak, who is a former chair and distinguished professor of physics at Boston University.

No matter what district you live in, if you agree with Larry and me that we need more people in Congress who understand science, read on.

In its ability to learn, the cockroach is a moron in the morning and a genius in the evening.

All Motion is Relative – to something else. To describe the motion of any body at least two points of reference must be taken into account.
When comparing the motion of a body with space alone there is no other reference – therefore the body’s motion is always zero.

A novel device, developed by a team led by University at Buffalo engineers, simply and conveniently traps, detects and manipulates the single spin of an electron, overcoming some major obstacles that have prevented progress toward spintronics and spin-based quantum computing.

I just got back to my desk after an excellent talk by Paul Whalen of Dartmouth College. Whalen studies the amygdala, an almond-shaped region buried deep in the brain. Scientists have long known that the amygdala is involved in emotional processing. For instance, when you look at a person whose facial expression is fearful, your amygdala gets activated. People with damage to their amygdalas have difficulty telling if a given facial expression is “fear” as opposed to just “neutral.”

It was an action-packed talk, and I recommend that anybody interested in the topic visit his website and read his latest work. What I’m going to write about here are some of his recent results — some of which I don’t think have been published yet — investigating whether you have to be consciously aware of seeing a fearful face in order for your amygdala to become activated.

El Aref ‘s Fraud: Many graduate students have made important discoveries good researches and contributions to scientific research only to have their work appropriated by an advisor or senior colleague with more clout and weight to throw around. Such students find themselves with little recourse, and if they do raise their voice in complaint, they [...]

Scientists have discovered a link between a mutated gene and a protein found in dead brain cells of people who suffer from a form of dementia and other neurological disorders.