The happiest young couples may be involved in a different kind of engagement....
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Viking apocalypse linked to elite killers of the medieval world
A crew of Viking mercenaries – some of the fiercest and most feared killers in the medieval world – could be the occupants of a mysterious mass grave in the south of England, according to a new theory. The intriguing hypothesis is being put forward in a documentary, Viking Apocalypse, which will premiere on National [...]
Brain cells created from patients’ skin cells
Cambridge scientists have, for the first time, created cerebral cortex cells – those that make up the brain’s grey matter – from a small sample of human skin. The researchers’ findings, which were funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK and the Wellcome Trust, were published today in Nature Neuroscience. Diseases of the cerebral cortex range from [...]
Surface of Mars an unlikely place for life after 600 million year drought
Mars may have been arid for more than 600 million years, making it too hostile for any life to survive on the planet’s surface, according to researchers who have been carrying out the painstaking task of analysing individual particles of Martian soil. Dr Tom Pike, from Imperial College London, will discuss the team’s analysis at [...]
Scientists to watch cancer cells in action at unprecedented resolution
A photograph of a polar bear in captivity, no matter how sharp the resolution, can never reveal as much about behavior as footage of that polar bear in its natural habitat. The behavior of cells and molecules can prove even more elusive. Limitations in biomedical imaging technologies have hampered attempts to understand cellular and molecular [...]
How New Viruses Evolve, and in Some Cases, Become Deadly
In the current issue of the journal Science, researchers at Michigan State University, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Texas at Austin demonstrate how a new virus evolves, which sheds light on how easy it can be for diseases to gain dangerous mutations. The scientists showed for the first time how the [...]
Crystalline materials enable high-speed electronic function in optical fibers
Scientists at the University of Southampton, in collaboration with Penn State University have, for the first time, embedded the high level of performance normally associated with chip-based semiconductors into an optical fibre, creating high-speed optoelectronic function. The potential applications of such optical fibres include improved telecommunications and other hybrid optical/electronic technologies. This transatlantic team will [...]
Odds of living a very long life lower than formerly predicted
Research just published by a team of demographers at the social science research organization NORC at the University of Chicago contradicts a long-held belief that the mortality rate of Americans flattens out above age 80. It also explains why there are only half as many people in the U.S. age 100 and above as the [...]
Combo contraceptive pill helps painful periods
A large Scandinavian study, that has been running for 30 years, has finally provided convincing evidence that the combined oral contraceptive pill does, indeed, alleviate the symptoms of painful menstrual periods reports scientists from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The research is published in Europe´s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction. Although some previous studies [...]
Spinning sessions trigger the same biochemical indications as heart attacks
A short spinning session can trigger the same biochemical indications as a heart attack – a reaction that is probably both natural and harmless, but should be borne in mind when people seek emergency treatment for chest pain, reveals a study from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Heart attacks increase the [...]
Time=Money=Less Happiness, study finds
What does “free time” mean to you? When you’re not at work, do you pass the time — or spend it? The difference may impact how happy you are. A new study shows people who put a price on their time are more likely to feel impatient when they’re not using it to earn money. [...]
The best medicine for a stressed worker
A worker experiencing the stress of intense workdays might develop somatic symptoms, such as stomach ache or headache, which will eventually lead to taking leave of absence. But when the individual’s supervisor offers emotional and instrumental support, the employee is more likely to recover without needing to take that extra afternoon or day off. This [...]
East views the world differently to West
Cultural differences between the West and East are well documented, but a study shows that concrete differences also exist in how British and Chinese people recognise people and the world around them. Easterners really do look at the world differently to Westerners, according to new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). [...]
Gut microbes can cause obesity
Obesity and chronic liver disease can be triggered by a family of proteins that alter populations of microbes in the stomach, a discovery that suggests the condition may be infectious, Yale scientists report. The study, in the advance online publication of Nature, expands on earlier Yale research that showed how similar microbial imbalances caused by [...]
New hope for treatment of glioblastoma multiforme
Jim Black is fighting the meanest, most aggressive, most common kind of brain tumor in the United States: recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). In the United States, each year, approximately 10,000 patients are affected by GBM. Now, a novel investigational device — available only at clinical trial sites — is offering new hope to these patients. [...]
Caribbean lizards settle ‘founder effect’ controversy
When a devastating 2004 hurricane wiped out a Caribbean lizard population, University of California, Davis, researchers had an unprecedented opportunity to address a long-simmering controversy in evolutionary biology. Their findings — from the first experimental study of the so-called “founder effect” in a natural setting — are published in Friday’s (Feb. 3) edition of Science [...]
Wireless power could revolutionize highway transportation
A Stanford University research team has designed a high-efficiency charging system that uses magnetic fields to wirelessly transmit large electric currents between metal coils placed several feet apart. The long-term goal of the research is to develop an all-electric highway that wirelessly charges cars and trucks as they cruise down the road. The new technology [...]
Are Poor Neighborhoods ‘Retail Deserts’?
As the nation suffers a burgeoning obesity crisis, health advocates and policymakers have zoned in on poor neighborhoods they’ve termed “food deserts” – areas with few grocery stores and other access to healthy food. But a new USC study finds that many poor urban neighborhoods have high concentrations of grocery and other retail food outlets. [...]
Peptide inhibits replication of hepatitis C virus
Researchers from UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a cell-permeable peptide that inhibits a hepatitis C virus protein and blocks the viral replication that can lead to liver cancer and cirrhosis. The finding by Dr. Samuel French, a UCLA assistant professor of pathology and senior author of the research, builds on previous work by [...]
Vitamins could cut risk of colon cancer
Could the use of vitamin and mineral supplements in a regular diet help to reduce the risk of colon cancer and protect against carcinogens? A study published in the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology (CJPP) found that rats given regular multivitamin and mineral supplements showed a significantly lower risk of developing colon cancer when [...]
Device removes stroke-causing clots better than standard treatment
An experimental device for removing blood clots in stroke patients dramatically outperformed the standard mechanical treatment, according to research presented by UCLA Stroke Center director Dr. Jeffrey L. Saver at the American Stroke Association’s 2012 international conference in New Orleans on Feb. 3. The SOLITAIRE Flow Restoration Device is among an entirely new generation of [...]
