Other Sciences News

The entrainment of theta brain waves with a commercially available device boosts memory performance. Image credit: Gerd Altmann.

Theta-Wave Entrainment Device Improves Episodic Memory

Oct 24, 2018 by News Staff

According to new research from the University of California, Davis, the entrainment of theta brain waves with a commercially available device not only...

This image of the rectangular iceberg was taken during an Operation IceBridge flight over the northern Antarctic Peninsula on October 16, 2018. Image credit: Jeremy Harbeck, NASA.

NASA’s IceBridge Researchers Find Rectangular Icebergs in Southern Ocean

Oct 24, 2018 by News Staff

Members of the Operation IceBridge, NASA’s decade-long airborne survey of polar ice, spotted two rectangular icebergs during a flight over the northern...

Neanderthals in a cave. Image credit: Tyler B. Tretsven.

Neanderthals Cared for the Ill and Injured, Assisted Childbirth

Oct 22, 2018 by News Staff

In a paper published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews, University of York’s Dr. Penny Spikins and co-authors argue that Neanderthals embraced...

Fluorescence optical microscopy image showing emulsion droplets consisting of caged multi-compartmentalized spheroids containing a closely packed mixture of proteinosomes dispersed in oil. Scale bar - 100 μm. Image credit: Gobbo et al, doi: 10.1038/s41563-018-0183-5.

Researchers Develop Artificial Prototissue Capable of Beating

Oct 16, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists at the University of Bristol, UK, has developed a synthetic prototissue that is capable of synchronized beating. The team’s work,...

Color-changing contact lenses could help doctors determine whether drugs are being delivered to the intended treatment site. Image credit: American Chemical Society.

Researchers Develop Contact Lenses that Change Color as Drugs Released

Oct 16, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers in China has developed drug-delivering contact lenses that could self-report the drug release process by color change. The team’s...

Brain mapping helps neuroscientists understand how specific areas function and how to create new drugs and targeted treatments. Image credit: Jim Stanis and Tyler Ard, USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute.

Neuroscientists Create Most Detailed Map Ever of Hippocampus

Oct 12, 2018 by News Staff

A team of neuroscientists at the University of Southern California Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute has produced the most detailed...

The population of Easter Island in pre-historic time is believed to have numbered in the thousands although typical perennial sources of drinking water are nearly absent from the island. Image credit: Thomason Jiang.

Ancient Easter Islanders Collected Brackish Water from Ocean’s Edge, Researchers Claim

Oct 11, 2018 by News Staff

Ancient inhabitants of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) survived periods of drought due to their utilization of brackish groundwater discharge that surfaces buoyantly...

By combining separate measures of recall and recognition, Jenkins et al show that people know about 5,000 faces on average and that individual differences are large. Image credit: Gerd Altmann.

People Know 5,000 Faces on Average, Study Says

Oct 11, 2018 by News Staff

Over our species history, humans have typically lived in small groups of under a hundred individuals. But a new study, published in the journal Royal Society...

Interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans gave us genetic tools to combat viral infections. Image credit: Claire Scully.

Study: Humans Inherited Viral Defenses from Neanderthals

Oct 10, 2018 by News Staff

Neanderthal DNA introgressed in modern humans helped them adapt against RNA viruses, according to new research published in the journal Cell. Interbreeding...

Brain areas reflecting choice set value: areas shown in red to yellow exhibit a linear increase in fMRI activity as a function of S during the exposure stage of the pooled choice trials. Image credit: Reutskaja et al, doi: 10.1038/s41562-018-0440-2.

Neuroscientists Identify Brain Areas Responsible for Choice Overload

Oct 8, 2018 by News Staff

Scientists have long known that we are overwhelmed by too many choices. Now, Caltech Professor Colin Camerer and co-authors have discovered what’s happening...

Receiving a hug on the day of conflict was associated with improved concurrent negative and positive affect and improved next day negative affect compared to days when conflict occurred but no hug was received. Image credit: Rawpixel.

Study: Hugs Protect against Conflict-Related Psychological Distress

Oct 4, 2018 by News Staff

According to new research, receiving hugs — a common support behavior that individuals engage in with a wide range of social partners — may...

UV active ink can be printed on paper making sensors cheap and easy to produce. Image credit: RMIT University.

Researchers Develop Wearable Paper-Based UV Sensors

Oct 3, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of researchers led by RMIT University has developed paper-based UV sensors that could help people manage vitamin absorption and avoid...

Pleistocene backed artifact dated to 43,000 years ago showing evidence of use on its working edge: ventral and dorsal surfaces. Image credit: McDonald et al, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202511.

Aboriginal People Lived in Australian Deserts 43,000 Years Ago, New Research Finds

Oct 2, 2018 by News Staff

New evidence from Karnatukul (Serpents Glen), a rock shelter site in the Australian Western Desert, indicates that Aboriginal people lived in this interior...

An artistic conception of the early Earth. Image credit: Simone Marchi / NASA.

Plate Tectonics Was Active from Earth’s Very Beginning, Study Suggests

Oct 1, 2018 by News Staff

New research overturns previous scientific beliefs that Earth’s tectonic plates were developed over the course of billions of years. An artistic conception...

Adhering to a healthy diet, in particular a traditional Mediterranean diet, or avoiding a pro-inflammatory diet appears to confer some protection against depression in observational studies. Image credit: Rita E.

Eating Healthier, Plant-Rich Diet May Help Prevent Depression

Oct 1, 2018 by News Staff

According to a comprehensive, systematic review of previous studies, a diet of vegetables, fruits, nuts, plant-based food and fish — typical of a...

Kühn et al show that cocoa beans from different growing regions contain vitamin D2.

Cocoa and Chocolate are Rich Dietary Sources of Vitamin D2, Study Shows

Sep 28, 2018 by Natali Anderson

A study carried out by the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the Max Rubner-Institut, Germany, shows that cocoa and cocoa-based foods contain...

Dr. David Ferrier’s monkey brain map, 1874: the highlighted area labeled ‘EF’ is the area he observed to cause eye and head movements when electrically stimulated.

Neuroscientists Find Brain Area Linked to High-Risk Behavior

Sep 26, 2018 by News Staff

Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) who learned how to gamble have helped neuroscientists locate an area of the brain linked to risky behavior. The findings,...

An example of 3D-printed LCP part with complex fiber architecture and geometry: an impact-resistant Bouligand-type structure with twisted plywood arrangement of printed fibers. Image credit: Gantenbein et al, doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0474-7.

Researchers Develop Way to 3D Print with Liquid-Crystal Polymers

Sep 25, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers at ETH Zürich in Switzerland has developed an approach to 3D print recyclable materials using cheap desktop printers that outperform...

The Servants Drive a Herd of Yahoos into the Field by Louis John Rhead. Image credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Yahoo in Gulliver’s Travels Represent 18th Century Description of Sasquatch, Researcher Says

Sep 24, 2018 by News Staff

Australian National University researcher Debbie Argue may have solved one of English literature’s most enduring mysteries: Jonathan Swift’s inspiration...