Other Sciences News

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...

This is a photo illustration of the airplane during the survey, radar waves and the actual radar image. Image credit: NASA.

Geoscientists Find Large Impact Crater in Greenland

Nov 15, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of geoscientists from the United States, Canada and Europe has discovered a large impact crater beneath the Hiawatha Glacier in remote...

Short sleep duration was associated with higher odds of inadequate hydration. Image credit: Photo-Shot.

Sleeping Less Than Eight Hours Increases Risk of Inadequate Hydration in Adults

Nov 14, 2018 by News Staff

A study led by Pennsylvania State University’s Dr. Asher Rosinger suggests that those who don’t feel well after a night of poor sleep may want to consider...

Using electron tomography, Pellenq et al probed a sample of kerogen to determine its internal structure. At left, the sample as seen from the outside, and at right, the detailed 3D image of its internal pore structure. Image credit: Pellenq et al, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1808402115.

Researchers Finally Decode Internal Structure of Kerogen

Nov 14, 2018 by News Staff

Kerogen is a waxy, insoluble organic substance dispersed in sedimentary rocks and is the precursor of oil and gas. In a new study, published in the Proceedings...

Turnbull et al synthesized a single crystal of ι–N2 in a diamond anvil cell from ε–N2 at 65 GPa and 477 degrees Celsius. Image credit: Turnbull et al, doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-07074-4.

Physicists Solve Structure of Unusually Complex Form of Nitrogen

Nov 13, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of experimental physicists has for the first time determined the structure of ι-N2, a crystallized version of nitrogen. Turnbull...

Leaves and young shoots of hongyacha. Image credit: Ji-Qiang Jin et al, doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.8b03433.

Hongyacha: Caffeine-Free Tea Plant Discovered in China

Nov 12, 2018 by Sergio Prostak

Hongyacha, a new type of wild tea plant from the mountains of southern China, contains little or no caffeine, according to a study published in the Journal...

Photograph of the 5,000th sunrise over Mars captured by NASA’s Opportunity rover. Image credit: NASA.

Researchers Capture Sound of Martian Sunrise

Nov 9, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Anglia Ruskin University and the University of Exeter, UK, has created the soundtrack of the Martian sunrise captured by NASA’s...

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

250,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Teeth Reveal Evidence of Lead Poisoning

Nov 8, 2018 by News Staff

Two teeth from Neanderthal children who lived 250,000 years ago in what is today France contain evidence of repeated exposure to high levels of lead, a...

This study reveals important fundamental differences between hot and cold brew coffee that may have implications for possible health impacts on drinkers. Image credit: Fxxu.

Study: Hot Brew Coffee Has More Antioxidants than Cold Brew

Nov 8, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

According to a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports, the hot brew method extracts more antioxidants from coffee than the cold brew method. This...

An electrode network and cyanobacteria were 3D printed on a mushroom to generate bio-electricity. Image credit: Joshi et al, doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b02642.

Bionic Mushrooms Covered in Cyanobacteria Produce Bio-Electricity

Nov 7, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the Stevens Institute of Technology has developed bionic mushrooms patterned with energy-producing cyanobacterial colonies and...

Reconstruction of a Neanderthal. Image credit: Neanderthal Museum.

Researchers Create 3D Model of Neanderthal Rib Cage

Oct 31, 2018 by News Staff

Our close evolutionary cousins may have had a subtle, but somewhat different breathing mechanism compared to anatomically modern humans, according to a...

500,000-Year-Old Stone Tools Suggest Hominins Arrived in Arabia Earlier Than Thought

Oct 30, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of archaeologists and paleoanthropologists has found fossil faunal remains and associated stone tools at the middle Pleistocene (300,000-500,000...

This study by Leyh et al is one of the first nutrition studies where participants consumed a whole food as opposed to a protein shake or some form of supplement. Image credit: Diana Lavrova.

Pre-Sleep Consumption of Cottage Cheese Supports Metabolism, Muscle Recovery, Study Shows

Oct 29, 2018 by News Staff

A new study published in the British Journal of Nutrition has found that consuming 30 grams of whole-food protein (cottage cheese) about 30 min before...

Arshamian et al examined the effect of respiration on consolidation of episodic odor memory.

Study: Breathing through Nose Enhances Memory Consolidation in Humans

Oct 25, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

Nose breathing improves the transfer of experience to long-term memory, according to a new study published in the journal JNeurosci. Arshamian et al examined...