Other Sciences News

Forensic facial reconstruction of another Australopithecus species - A. afarensis. Image credit: Cicero Moraes / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Little Foot Fossil Sheds New Light on Hominin Brain Evolution

Dec 21, 2018 by News Staff

The first detailed comparative description of the external neuroanatomy of the 3.67-million-year-old Australopithecus prometheus fossil known as the Little...

The new study by Burke Quinla et al suggests that the experience of chronic peer victimization during adolescence might induce psychopathology-relevant deviations from normative brain development. Early peer victimization interventions could prevent such pathological changes. Image credit: Alexas Fotos.

Study: Bullying Affects Structure of Adolescent Brain

Dec 17, 2018 by News Staff

Chronic peer victimization during adolescence impacts mental health via structural brain changes, according to new research published in the journal Molecular...

Chen et al’s rewritable paper demonstrates excellent rewriting performances (legible time > 6 months and reversibility > 100 times); its color rapidly changes from blue to colorlessness when the temperature is higher than 149 degrees Fahrenheit (65 degrees Celsius), and the colorless state can be maintained at room temperature; the color returns to blue when the temperature is lower than 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 10 degrees Celsius). Image credit: Chen et al, doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b14625.

Scientists Develop Long-Lasting, Easy-to-Use Rewritable Paper

Dec 10, 2018 by News Staff

A team of materials scientists in China has created a ‘rewritable’ paper that can be drawn or printed on over and over again; the messages can last...

Exercising on a regular basis over a lifetime may help keep the body decades younger. Image credit: Michael de Groot.

Lifelong Aerobic Exercise May Help Keep Body Young, Says New Study

Dec 10, 2018 by News Staff

In an analysis of septuagenarians who have been exercising for decades, researchers from Ball State University found that they have heart and lung capacities...

He et al found that a single workout can activate POMC neurons (shown in green in yellow) for up to 2 days; these neurons are important regulators of blood glucose levels and energy balance. Image credit: He et al, doi: 10.1016/j.molmet.2018.08.011.

Exercise Can Boost Metabolism, Animal Study Shows

Dec 7, 2018 by News Staff

A new study shows neurons in mice that influence metabolism are active for up to two days after a single workout. The study, published in the journal Molecular...

$Jackson et al propose that magma storage occurs by reactive melt flow in long-lived mush reservoirs, rather than by the commonly invoked process of fractional crystallization in magma chambers. Image credit: Julius Silver.$

Volcanoes are Fed by ‘Mush’ Reservoirs, Says New Study

Dec 5, 2018 by News Staff

Volcanoes are not fed by liquid magma formed in large, underground caves called ‘magma’ chambers; instead, they are fed by so-called ‘mush’ reservoirs...

Left: average of known decay properties assigned to 288Mc and its daughters. Right: details of decay chains detected at the FIONA focal plane. Unobserved decays within each decay chain are indicated as ‘unobserved’ and are assumed to have been emitted out of the open end of the detector array. The x position of decays observed in the focal-plane detector is also given. Image credit: Gates et al, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.222501.

Physicists Measure Mass Numbers of Nihonium and Moscovium

Dec 3, 2018 by News Staff

Physicists using the FIONA (For the Identification Of Nuclide A) device at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 88-inch...

In fruit flies, dopamine neurons regulate both learning and forgetting. Berry et al identify a locus for the storage and retrieval of a short-term memory trace and show that a single dopamine neuron regulates both formation and disruption of this trace. Image credit: Berry et al, doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.09.051.

Neuroscientists Decode Physiological Mechanism of Remembering and Forgetting

Nov 30, 2018 by News Staff

In a study of fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), a team of researchers from the Scripps Research Institute Florida has shown the physiological mechanism...

A stone tool from Ain Boucherit, Algeria. Image credit: Sahnouni et al, doi: 10.1126/science.aau0008.

2.4-Million-Year-Old Stone Tools, Cutmarked Bones Found in Algeria

Nov 30, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of archaeologists and paleoanthropologists has uncovered 2.4-million-year-old stone artifacts and cutmarked bones at the archaeological...

Westbury & Hollis determined that there are two main kinds of predictors of funniness in words: those related to the form of the word and those related to its meaning. Image credit: Jesper Sehested, PlusLexia.com / CC BY 2.0.

What Makes Some Words Funny? Psychology Experts Cracking Science of Humor

Nov 29, 2018 by News Staff

A new study by University of Alberta scientists demonstrates that words are judged funnier if they are less common and have an improbable orthographic...

Agricultural fires in modern-day Pakistan and India. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/ Lynn Jenner / Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team.

Wildfires Played Crucial Role in Miocene Expansion of Grasslands

Nov 28, 2018 by News Staff

New research from Penn State and Smithsonian Institute links a large rise in wildfires nearly 10 million years ago (Miocene epoch) with a major shift in...

Tobacco package stimuli: neutral (left) and negative (right) social cues. Image credit: Jennifer Jeffrey & Matthew Thomson, doi: 10.1111/joca.12232.

Negative Social Cues on Tobacco Packaging May Encourage Smokers Quit

Nov 27, 2018 by News Staff

A new study by Western University, Canada, supports the notion that tobacco packaging which conveys to smokers that ‘others’ view smoking negatively...

The endorestiform nucleus is found near the brain-spinal cord junction. Image credit: George Paxinos, Neuroscience Research Australia.

Australian Neuroscientist Discovers Hidden Region in Human Brain: Endorestiform Nucleus

Nov 23, 2018 by News Staff

Professor George Paxinos from Neuroscience Research Australia has discovered a hidden region of the human brain. The endorestiform nucleus is found near...

Exposure to outdoor air pollution may be one of the pathways that contribute to the health inequities experienced by people with intellectual disabilities. Image credit: Ralf Vetterle.

Scientists Find Link between Air Pollution and Intellectual Disabilities in Children

Nov 23, 2018 by News Staff

Levels of exposure to outdoor air pollution among children with intellectual disabilities are significantly higher than those of children without intellectual...

Mok et al developed flexible organic photovoltaics with a chemical additive that mitigates the material’s brittle qualities without losing efficiency. Image credit: Jeff Fitlow / Rice University.

Researchers Develop Flexible Organic Solar Cells

Nov 21, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists from Rice University, Houston Community College and Brookhaven National Laboratory has developed flexible organic photovoltaics that...

MRI study reveals that repeated blows to the head cause microscopic changes in young football players’ brains. Image credit: Andzelika Tokarska.

Playing High School Football Can Cause Microstructural Changes in Gray Matter, MRI Study Reveals

Nov 21, 2018 by News Staff

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans have revealed that playing a single season of high school football can cause significant microscopic changes...

Han et al created an epoxy-graphene foam compound that is tough and conductive without adding significant weight. Image credit: Rice University.

Researchers Create Tough, Conductive Epoxy-Graphene Foam Compound

Nov 16, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by Rice University has combined epoxy with an ultra-stiff graphene foam and carbon nanotube scaffold to build a resilient composite...

Ong et al investigated the causal relationship between bitter taste perception and the consumption of coffee, tea and alcohol. Image credit: Tabble.

People with Higher Sensitivity to Bitter Caffeine Taste Drink More Coffee, Study Says

Nov 16, 2018 by News Staff

A new study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, has found that the more sensitive people are to the bitter taste of caffeine, the more coffee...

Neanderthals are commonly thought to have relied on dangerous close range hunting techniques, using non-projectile weapons like the thrusting spears depicted here; this hunting approach is thought to have brought them into violent contact with large mammals, resulting in high levels of injury especially to the head and neck when compared to modern humans; Beier et al found similar head injury levels in both Neanderthals and Upper Paleolithic humans, casting doubt on this hypothesis. Image credit: Gleiver Prieto.

Neanderthals, Upper Paleolithic Humans Had Similarly Harsh Lives: Study

Nov 15, 2018 by News Staff

Neanderthals had just as many head trauma injuries as Upper Paleolithic humans, according to new research from the University of Tübingen, Germany. Neanderthals...