Other Sciences News

This study is the first to show that omega-3 supplementation in children can reduce inter-partner psychological aggression among adult caregivers not receiving supplements. Image credit: Steve Buissinne.

Study: Omega-3 Supplementation in Children Could Reduce Psychological Aggression among Adults

Jul 31, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

New research by scientists from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and elsewhere shows how omega 3-rich diet can prevent disruptive, even abusive behavior. This...

Toxoplasma gondii has a unique cytoskeletal apparatus that is probably used for invading host cells and for parasite replication. Shown here are images of Toxoplasma gondii constructing daughter scaffolds within the mother cell. Image credit: Ke Hu & John M. Murray / CC BY 4.0.

Toxoplasmosis May Increase Person’s Likelihood of Pursuing Entrepreneurial Activities

Jul 30, 2018 by News Staff

Toxoplasmosis, caused by the globally prevalent parasite Toxoplasma gondii, is one of the most common parasitic infections of man and other warm-blooded...

Micrograph of aspirin polymorphs. Image credit: Chunhua Tony Hu.

New Polymorph of Aspirin Promises More Efficient Pain Relief

Jul 25, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

Every compound has different crystal forms with distinct structures and properties called polymorphs. New York University scientist Chunhua Tony Hu and...

The occasional use of stone tools as ‘strike-a-lights’ was a technocultural feature shared among Neanderthals in France.

Neanderthals Could Start Fires with Mineral Pyrite and Stone Tools

Jul 23, 2018 by News Staff

New research published in the journal Scientific Reports provides clear evidence that Neanderthals made fire by striking a piece of pyrite, the yellow...

The fruit fly brain contains roughly 100,000 neurons, which can now be traced in detail using a dataset that includes roughly 21 million images Zheng et al traced the paths of neurons (colored threads) that reach out to the mushroom body, a region involved in memory and learning. Image credit: Zheng et al, doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.06.019.

Fruit Fly Brain Imaged at Synaptic Resolution

Jul 23, 2018 by News Staff

A team of neuroscientists at Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus has taken detailed pictures of the whole brain of an adult female...

Mantantzis et al found that increasing blood sugar levels not only improves memory and performance, but makes older adults feel happier during a task. Image credit: Gabriela Sanda.

Glucose Improves Memory in Older Adults: Study

Jul 20, 2018 by News Staff

A small dose of glucose can improve memory in older adults, motivate them to work harder and puts them in a good mood when performing difficult tasks,...

In the large-scale survey by Akhtar et al, 6,641 respondents provided descriptions of their first memory and their age when they encoded that memory, and they completed various memory judgments and ratings. The established view is that the distribution around mean age at encoding is truncated, with very few or no memories dating to the preverbal period, that is, below about two years of age. However, Akhtar et al found that 2,487 first memories (nearly 40% of the entire sample) dated to an age at encoding of two years and younger, with 893 dating to one year and younger. Image credit: Myriam.

Study: Nearly 40% of People Have Fictional First Memory

Jul 19, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the University of Bradford, Nottingham Trent University and City, University of London, UK, has conducted a large-scale survey...

Earth-Moon system. Image credit: Comfreak.

Meghalayan: Collapse of Ancient Agricultural Civilizations Defines Holocene’s Youngest Stage

Jul 18, 2018 by News Staff

The Meghalayan, the youngest stage of the current Holocene epoch, began at the time when ancient agricultural societies experienced an abrupt and critical...

Abnormal accumulations of a protein called tau can collect inside neurons, forming tangled threads and eventually harming the synaptic connection between neurons. Image credit: National Institute on Aging / National Institutes of Health.

Neuroscientists Find Alzheimer’s ‘Big Bang’

Jul 18, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, the University of Delaware and Washington University in St. Louis has discovered...

Three scans (from the front, side and above) of two different brains (pictured on the left and on the right) belonging to twins; the furrows and ridges are different in each person. Image credit: Lutz Jäncke, University of Zurich.

Our Brains are as Unique as Our Fingerprints, Neuroscientists Say

Jul 13, 2018 by News Staff

Every individual has a unique brain anatomy, according to new research from the University of Zurich in Switzerland; and this uniqueness is the result...

Prehistoric Central European women’s manual labor was tougher than rowing in today’s boat crews.

Southeast Asians Derive Ancestry from Four Ancient Populations

Jul 13, 2018 by News Staff

Modern-day Southeast Asian populations are the result of mixing among four ancient populations, including multiple waves of genetic material from more...

The 2.12-million-year-old stone artifact at the Shangchen site, China. Image credit: Zhaoyu Zhu.

2.1-Million-Year-Old Stone Tools Unearthed in China

Jul 12, 2018 by News Staff

Archaeologists working in the southern Chinese Loess Plateau have unearthed stone tools crafted at least 2.1 million years ago by early humans. The discovery,...

The quality of diet and food intake has a vital role in AMD. Image credit: Rita E.

Healthy Diet May Lower Risk of Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Jul 6, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

Diet may affect individuals’ risks related to the development and progression of age-related macular degeneration, a progressive chronic disease of the...

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

Neanderthals Hunted Fallow Deer Using Close-Range Thrusting Spears: Study

Jul 6, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a study published June 25 in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, an international team of researchers reports lesions observed on two fallow...

Female Australopithecus afarensis with a child. Image credit: Concavenator / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Juvenile Australopithecus Climbed Trees, 3.32-Million-Year-Old Foot Fossil Shows

Jul 5, 2018 by News Staff

A nearly complete foot of Australopithecus afarensis, a hominid species that lived between 3.85 and 2.95 million years ago, from Ethiopia has several ape-like...

Gutiérrez-Ibáñez et al found that SpM is greatly enlarged in parrots. Image credit: Edmond Lafoto.

Researchers Identify Brain Circuit Responsible for Cognition in Parrots

Jul 5, 2018 by News Staff

A group of neuroscientists from the Universities of Lethbridge and Alberta, both in Canada, has identified a neural circuit that may underlay intelligence...

Scalise Sugiyama et al analyzed how competitive team sports shaped the physical and psychological skills of early humans. Image credit: Sasin Tipchai.

Competitive Team Sports May Have Very Ancient Roots: Study

Jul 2, 2018 by News Staff

According to new research published in the journal Human Nature, competitive team games are universal across the world and may have deep roots in humans’...

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

4-Million-Year-Old Skull of Australopithecus Shows Similarities to That of Modern Humans

Jun 27, 2018 by News Staff

An Australopithecus partial cranium found in the Jacovec Cavern of the Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa, one of the richest early hominin fossil localities...

The East Antarctic Plateau is a windswept desolate expanse the size off Australia with few bases or instruments. Image credit: Ted Scambos, National Snow and Ice Data Center / University of Colorado Boulder.

Coldest Place on Earth: Study Explains East Antarctica’s Ultra-Low Surface Temperatures

Jun 26, 2018 by News Staff

When Dr. Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder, and co-authors first...