In the five countries studied in the report “Where are WEEE in Africa?” (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria), between 650,000 and 1,000,000 tons of domestic E-waste are generated each year, which need to be managed to protect human health and the environment in the region. The report sheds light on current recycling practices [...]

A distinctive pattern of brain activity associated with conditions including deep anesthesia, coma and congenital brain disorders appears to represent the brain’s shift into a protective, low-activity state in response to reduced metabolic energy. A mathematical model developed by a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)-based research team accurately predicts and explains for the first time how [...]

A new study has shown that boosting the estrogen levels of male garter snakes causes them to secrete the same pheromones that females use to attract suitors, and turned the males into just about the sexiest snake in the neighborhood – attracting dozens of other males eager to mate. This experiment in the famed garter [...]

Microscopic channels of gold nanoparticles have the ability to transmit electromagnetic energy that starts as light and propagates via “dark plasmons,” according to researchers at Rice University. A new paper in the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters shows how even disordered collections of nanoparticles in arrays as thin as 150 nanometers can be turned [...]

Whether or not you know any high school students that actually get nine hours of sleep each night, that’s what federal guidelines currently prescribe. A new Brigham Young University study found that 16-18 year olds perform better academically when they shave about two hours off that recommendation. “We’re not talking about sleep deprivation,” says study [...]

Several recent large-scale research reviews have provided the best evidence yet that chocolate, derived from the seeds of the cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao), is good for your heart. In one review, in the British journal BMJ in August, researchers analyzed data from seven observational studies, which included more than 100,000 people. Those who ate the [...]

Imagine that the only thing limiting you is your imagination – that the physical means of achieving what you see in your mind’s eye is right in front of you. That, according to Professor Mark Hodson, is how it is for scientists at the Diamond synchrotron in Oxfordshire. With its curving walls, lined with walkways, [...]

Philosopher Sun Tzu once wrote that to know oneself and one’s opponent is to ensure victory in 100 battles. University of Alberta psychology researcher Kyle Mathewson’s research shows that the Chinese general may have been on to something. Mathewson and colleagues from the University of Illinois and University of California Berkeley were looking at how the [...]

Researchers at Zucker Hillside Hospital’s Recognition and Prevention (RAP) Program who have worked with teenagers at risk for serious mental illness for the past decade are now studying the effectiveness of Omega 3 fatty acids (fish oil) for treating psychiatric symptoms. This new study is a National Institute of Mental Health-funded randomized double-blind trial that [...]

Gunshot injuries are typically categorized as low- or high-energy based on the weapon’s missile velocity and mass. Typically, low energy injuries are treated with simple wound care, with or without antibiotics, regardless of the presence of a fracture. In contrast, high energy injuries are treated more aggressively. A new study, “Handgun Injuries in 2012: What [...]

It has long been known that psychostimulant drugs have the paradoxical effect of reducing hyperactivity. [Psychostimulant drugs include methylphenidate – known by the trade names Ritalin, Concerta, and Methylin – and methamphetamine]. Since the mid-1950s, millions of children and adults have been prescribed stimulant medications to control attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). But for more [...]