Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a severely debilitating illness characterized by sadness and an inability to cope. Not only does it affect a person’s ability to concentrate and make decisions, it also alters their ability to experience pleasurable e…
Is there a psychological reason why people default on their mortgages? A new study, which will be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that people with bad credit scores …
This year’s Salary Survey saw drops in salaries across the board with almost every speciality suffering a setback, some with dips as large as $20,000 (ecology) and $28,000 (virology).
However, a few select fields, namely bioinformatics, biophysic…
When Stephen Barrager was diagnosed in 2007 with acute multiple myeloma, a form of bone marrow cancer, he endured the same anxiety that troubles all those who receive an upsetting diagnosis. The way he went about dealing with his disease and its tre…
A study published in the April 3 issue of Nature solves a longstanding mystery about elephant speeds by clocking the animals at 15 miles per hour. That’s faster than reliable observations of 10 mph top speeds but slower than speculations of 25 mph. But do fast-moving elephants really “run”? Even at fast speeds, it might seem to the casual observer that elephants don’t run. Their footfall pattern remains the same as that in walking, and never do all four feet leave the ground at the same time – a hallmark of running. But biomechanists are finding that an elephant’s center of mass appears to bounce at high speeds. If that turns out to be true, an elephant’s gait meets the biomechanical definition of running.
Cockroaches may not be man’s best friend, but they do have their redeeming qualities. While they may not be welcomed in garages and pantries, they are gaining favor in the labs of biologists and mechanical engineers who are studying their anatomy with hopes of building running robots with the same speed, stability and versatility.
When it comes to nanotechnology, many researchers turn to nature for inspiration. Of particular interest to nanoengineers is the naturally occurring protein kinesin – one of several ”motor molecules” that facilitate movement in living cells. A mere ten-millionth of an inch long, kinesin is the workhorse of the cell, hauling chromosomes, neurotransmitters and other vital cargo along tiny tracks called ”microtubules.” While one end of a kinesin molecule holds onto its cargo, the other end uses a strange two-headed structure to grab the microtubule and pull the cargo forward.
For the first time, researchers have shown that the brains of dyslexic children can be rewired — after undergoing intensive remediation training — to function more like those found in normal readers. The training program, which is designed to help dyslexics understand rapidly changing sounds that are the building blocks of language, helped the participants become better readers after just eight weeks.
What do infants learn as they watch people talk or act in a certain manner? If a television is on in a room, how much do infants pay attention to it? These are questions Donna Mumme, assistant professor of psychology at Tufts University, answers in her study, “The Infant as Onlooker: Learning from Emotional Reactions Observed in a Television Scenario.” Co-authored by Anne Fernald of Stanford University, the article is published in the January/February issue of Child Development, the publication of the Society for Research in Child Development.
A persistent, long-lasting headache or an endlessly painful back may indicate something more serious than a bad week at the office. A new study finds that people who have major depression are more than twice as likely to have chronic pain when compared to people who have no symptoms of depression. This study could change how depression is diagnosed and treated, say Stanford School of Medicine researchers.
When Viagra was introduced in 1999, the drug’s manufacturer warned of a number of visual side effects, including possible nerve damage to the eyes. But a California study rules out some of these risks — even when the drug is taken in high doses. According to Dr. Tim McCulley, assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of California at Irvine, blood flow in the eye does not seem to be reduced by even high doses of the popular erectile dysfunction drug. Since Viagra lowers blood pressure overall, there was persistent suspicion that the drug might cause decreased optical blood flow, which can cause nerve damage.
