Brain & Behavior
Heads or tails? Random fluctuations in brain cell activity may determine toss-up decisions
Life presents us with choices all the time: salad or pizza for lunch? Tea or coffee afterward?
Dec 5, 2013
Life
Like salmon and sea turtles, mother sharks 'home' to their birthplace to give birth
Research conducted in Bimini in The Bahamas spanning almost two decades shows that female lemon sharks that were born there returned 15 years later to give birth to their own young, confirming this behavior for the first time in sharks.
Dec 5, 2013
Health
Economic development can only buy happiness up to a 'sweet spot' of $36,000 GDP per person
Economists have shed light on the vexed question of whether economic development can buy happiness – and it seems that life satisfaction actually dips among people living in the wealthiest countries.
Dec 2, 2013
Health
Blood Test Accurately Diagnoses Concussion, Predicts Long Term Cognitive Disability
A new blood biomarker correctly predicted which concussion victims went on to have white matter tract structural damage and persistent cognitive dysfunction…
Nov 25, 2013
Health
Focusing on faces: Autistic amygdala cells less sensitivity to eye region of others
Difficulties in social interaction are considered to be one of the behavioral hallmarks of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Previous studies have shown these…
Nov 25, 2013
Life
How living cells solved a needle in a haystack problem to generate electrical signals
Scientists have figured out how calcium channels – the infinitesimal cell membrane pores that generate electrical signals by gating a charged-particle influx – have solved a “needle in a haystack” problem.
Nov 25, 2013
Physics
Evidence of jet of high-energy particles from Milky Way's black hole found by astronomers
For decades, astronomers have sought strong evidence that the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy is producing a jet of high-energy particles.
Nov 22, 2013
Health
Dilute bleach solution may fight skin damage, aging
Processes that age and damage skin are impeded by dilute bleach solution, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Nov 18, 2013
Health
Conversations between lovers about STIs are important in theory but difficult in bed
Having sex can be fun; and talking about sex can be fun. Talking about sexually transmitted infections with a sexual interest, however, is a totally different matter, according to new research from Indiana University's Center for Sexual Health Promotion.
Nov 6, 2013
Brain & Behavior
Reading this in a meeting? Women twice as likely to be offended by smartphone use
The world may be increasingly uncivil, and the workplace is no exception. With the rise of smartphones, you've probably even been a perpetrator of bad behavior yourself, checking text messages or taking a call during a meeting or business lunch.
Oct 24, 2013
Technology
How are Open Access and MOOCS disrupting the academic community in different ways?
Supporters of open academic content have long touted its ability to widen the impact and productivity of scholarship while relieving cost pressures in academia.
Oct 23, 2013
Earth & Environment
Weatherizing homes to uniform standard can achieve $33 billion in annual energy savings
With winter around the corner some homeowners may be thinking about plugging all the leaks in their home to make them less drafty.
Oct 21, 2013
Earth & Environment
Tiny sea creatures are heading for extinction, and could take local fisheries with them
A species of one of the world’s tiniest creatures, ocean plankton, is heading for extinction as it struggles to adapt to changes in sea temperature.
Oct 18, 2013
Health
Not all probiotics same in protecting premies from common, deadly illness
Treating premature infants with probiotics, the dietary supplements containing live bacteria that many adults take to help maintain their natural intestinal…
Oct 17, 2013