Other Sciences News

The popular view that music enhances creativity has been challenged by Threadgold et al. Image credit: William Iven.

Background Music Stints Creativity, Says New Study

Feb 28, 2019 by News Staff

In a series of three experiments, a team of psychologists from Lancaster University, the University of Central Lancashire and the University of Gävle...

A reconstruction of a Neanderthal man. Image credit: Neanderthal Museum.

Neanderthals Had Fully Upright Posture: Study

Feb 27, 2019 by News Staff

19th and early 20th century postural reconstructions of Neanderthals, and particularly the extensive one of the partial skeleton of an elderly male Neanderthal...

Christou et al conducted the first ever analysis of circadian rhythms in human fat taken from people isolated from daily environmental changes. Image credit: Bruce Blaus, Blausen.com / CC BY 3.0.

Study: White Fat Cells Have Their Own Internal Clocks

Feb 26, 2019 by News Staff

White fat cells (white adipose tissue) in the human body exhibit circadian rhythms affecting critical metabolic functions, according to a new study from...

Mice and rats have a rich repertoire of around 20 kinds of calls. Image credit: Alice Gray.

DeepSqueak: Deep Learning-Based System Decodes Rodent Chatter

Feb 21, 2019 by News Staff

Deep learning has recently revolutionized the field of machine hearing and vision, by allowing computers to perform human-like activities including seeing,...

Exercise elicits circadian phase-shifting effects.

Exercise Can Help You Counter Effects of Shift Work, Jet Lag, Other Disruptions to Circadian Clock

Feb 21, 2019 by News Staff

The circadian clock is the 24 hour cycle that regulates many physiological processes including sleeping and eating. Many factors affect this internal clock...

Gestures of our primate cousins may be more similar to our own language than previously thought. Image credit: Republica.

Chimpanzees’ Gestural Communication Follows Same Laws as Human Language: Study

Feb 14, 2019 by News Staff

According to a new study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, gestures of chimpanzees follow the same mathematical patterns — known...

Weiler et al show that, for postural hand control, even the fastest spinal feedback pathway can produce efficient corrective responses, forcing a re-evaluation of how the nervous system derives the control laws that support motor behavior. Image credit: Medium69 / Jmarchn.

Study: Spinal Cord Contributes to Sophisticated Hand Function

Feb 13, 2019 by News Staff

It is well known that neural circuits in the spinal cord control seemingly simple things like the pain reflex in humans, and some motor control functions...

Just 114 miles from the recently-discovered Hiawatha impact crater under the ice of northwest Greenland, lies a possible second impact crater. The 22.7-mile-wide feature would be the second crater found under an ice sheet, and if confirmed, would be the 22nd-largest crater on Earth. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Jefferson Beck.

Scientists Find Possible Second Subglacial Impact Crater in Northwest Greenland

Feb 12, 2019 by News Staff

Following the discovery of the 19.2-mile (31 km) wide Hiawatha impact crater beneath the northwest margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet, Dr. Joe MacGregor...

This is the first textile to automatically change properties to trap or release heat depending on conditions. Image credit: Faye Levine, University of Maryland.

‘Cool’ Textile Automatically Regulates Amount of Heat that Passes through It

Feb 11, 2019 by News Staff

Made from specially engineered infrared-sensitive yarn, which responds to changes in the temperature and humidity of a person’s skin by dynamically collapsing...

Wei et al developed a biomimetic self-propelling micromotor formulation for use as an oral antivirulence vaccine; the propulsion is provided by a magnesium-based core, and a biomimetic cell membrane coating is used to detain and neutralize a toxic antigenic payload; the resulting motor toxoids leverage their propulsion properties in order to more effectively elicit mucosal immune responses. Image credit: Wei et al, doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b05051.

Self-Propelling Micromotors Deliver Oral Vaccines

Feb 11, 2019 by News Staff

A team of scientists at the University of California San Diego has developed oral antivirulence vaccines powered by self-propelling micromotors that target...

Consuming walnuts may be associated with a lower prevalence and frequency of depression symptoms among American adults. Image credit: Alicja.

Walnut Consumption May Lower Risk of Depression

Feb 8, 2019 by News Staff

In an epidemiological study using data on walnut consumption and depression from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a team...

Airplanes wring extra snow and rain out of clouds. Image credit: Michael Bryant-Mode.

Study: Airplanes Flying Over Rain, Snow Can Intensify Precipitation by 10-Fold

Feb 4, 2019 by News Staff

By analyzing several years of weather radar observations in Finland, a research team led by University of Helsinki scientists has discovered that planes...

A group of Neanderthals in a cave. Image credit: Tyler B. Tretsven.

Denisovans and Neanderthals Lived in Denisova Cave for Thousands of Years

Jan 31, 2019 by News Staff

Two groups of archaic humans — Neanderthals and their enigmatic cousins, Denisovans — occupied Denisova Cave in the Altai region of Siberia...

Newborns have innate skills needed to pick out words. Image credit: Cheryl Holt.

Study: Newborn Babies Have Innate Skills to Pick Out Individual Words

Jan 31, 2019 by News Staff

Humans are born with operational language processing and memory capacities and can use at least two types of cues to segment otherwise continuous speech,...

Advance marks critical step toward brain-computer interface systems that hold immense promise for those with limited or no ability to speak. Image credit: Kai Kalhh.

Experimental Brain-Computer Interface Translates Brain Signals into Recognizable Speech

Jan 30, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers at Columbia University has developed a speech brain-computer interface system that translates brain signals into intelligible, recognizable...

The rocking bed used by the researchers. Image credit: Laurence Bayer and Aurore Perrault.

Rocking Boosts Deep Sleep and Memory Consolidation, Two New Studies Show

Jan 30, 2019 by News Staff

Two new studies, one of which was conducted in young adults and the other in mice, add to evidence for the benefits of a rocking motion during sleep. In...

Neanderthals consumed plants, too. Image credit: University of Utah via kued.org.

Neanderthals Produced Wooden Spears Advanced Enough to Kill at Distance

Jan 28, 2019 by News Staff

In a study published in the journal Scientific Reports, a team of researchers from University College London and Nordic Sport (UK) Limited examined the...

Trans-Cortical Vessels: Scientists Discover New Type of Blood Vessel in Long Bones

Jan 23, 2019 by News Staff

The newly-discovered ‘trans-cortical vessels’ connect the bone marrow with the periosteal circulation, according to new research published in the journal...

The unpleasantness of pain is an emotional phenomenon distinct from pain’s sensory qualities. To study how the brain processes pain-related emotions, Corder et al used neural calcium imaging in freely behaving mice. The team identified brain circuits that respond to pain and directly tested their causal role in motivational behaviors associated with acute and chronic pain. Image credit: Corder et al, doi: 10.1126/science.aap8586.

Neuroscientists Identify Neurons that Make Pain Unpleasant

Jan 22, 2019 by News Staff

Pain sensation and the emotional experience of pain are not the same. A research team at Stanford University has now identified a group of neurons in mice...