Other Sciences News

Curiosity helps learning and memory, scientists say. Anonymous painter, 15th century - Cahiers de Science et Vie no. 114.

New Study Provides Insight into How Piquing Curiosity Changes Our Brains

Oct 3, 2014 by News Staff

The more curious we are about a topic, the easier it is to learn information about that topic. A new study carried out by California University scientists...

North Atlantic; red dots are earthquakes. Image credit: David Sandwell / SIO.

New Map of World’s Seafloor Exposes Thousands of Previously Unseen Undersea Mountains

Oct 3, 2014 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s and European Space Agency’s satellites that measure variations in gravitational field, a multinational team of researchers...

This image shows stone tools found at the site of Nor Geghi, Armenia: top - biface tool; bottom - a Levallois core. Image credit: © Dan Adler.

Stone Tool Discovery in Armenia Gives Insight into Human Innovation 325,000 Years Ago

Sep 27, 2014 by News Staff

An analysis of about 3,000 stone tools from a 325,000-year-old archaeological site near the village of Nor Geghi in the Kotayk Province of Armenia challenges...

Space-filling representation of the Star of David catenane. Image credit: David A. Leigh et al.

Star of David Molecule Created

Sep 26, 2014 by News Staff

Manchester University PhD student Alex Stephens and his colleagues have successfully synthesized a Star of David catenane – a star-shaped molecule...

Combinatorial and modular genetic strategy for engineering self-assembling underwater adhesives; abbreviations: Mfps - mussel foot proteins (Mfp3 and Mfp5 - major mussel adhesive foot proteins, have unstructured coil structures in solution and are critical to the underwater interfacial adhesion of mussels); CsgA - an amyloidogenic protein that is the major subunit of adhesive curli ﬁber in Escherichia coli (contains five stacked strand–loop–strand motifs mediated by conserved residues and can self-assemble into nanofibers via a rate-limiting nucleation step followed by fibril extension). Image credit: Chao Zhong et al.

Mussel-Inspired Waterproof Adhesives Could Help Heal Wounds, Repair Ships

Sep 23, 2014 by News Staff

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have designed new mussel-inspired waterproof adhesives that could be used to heal wounds or repair...

Camel caravan crosses the Sahara desert in Morocco. Image credit: Bachmont / CC BY 2.0.

Sahara Desert Formed 7 Million Years Ago, New Study Suggests

Sep 20, 2014 by News Staff

A series of climate simulations, co-led by Dr Camille Contoux of the Bjerknes Center for Climate Research in Bergen, Norway, suggests that the desertification...

The top panel shows total world population projected to 2100; dotted lines are the range or error using the older scenario method, while shaded regions are the uncertainties using statistical methods; the darker shading is the 80 % confidence bars, and the lighter shading shows the 95 % confidence bars; at the bottom are the population projections for each continent. Image credit: Adrian Raftery / University of Washington.

Earth’s Population Could Reach 12.3 Billion by 2100, Scientists Say

Sep 19, 2014 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by Dr John Wilmoth of the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs announced yesterday in the journal Science that, according...

A Sami indigenous northern European family in Norway around 1900. The picture was probably taken in 1896 around the Kanstadfjord near Lødingen, Nordland. The adults on the left are Ingrid (born Sarri) and her husband Nils Andersen Inga. In front of the parents are Berit and Ole Nilsen. The lady on the right is Ellen, sister of Ingrid. In front of Ellen are the children Inger Anna and Tomas. The children of Inger Anna are reindeer herders still today. Detroit Publishing Co. print no. 7123.

Europeans Descended from 3 Groups of Ancient Humans, Study Reveals

Sep 18, 2014 by News Staff

Modern Europeans are the descendants of at least three groups of ancient humans, not two as was previously thought, reveals a comparative analysis of DNA...

STM image reveals honeycomb structure of germanene. Image credit: M E Dávila et al.

Germanene: European Scientists Synthesize New Cousin of Graphene

Sep 10, 2014 by News Staff

A team of scientists from Spain, Germany and France has managed to synthesize graphene’s cousin – an atom-thin, ordered, two-dimensional material...

This false-color scanning electron micrograph shows Escherichia coli. Image credit: Rocky Mountain Laboratories / NIAID / NIH.

Escherichia coli Engineered to Produce Renewable Propane

Sep 6, 2014 by News Staff

A team of scientists from Finland and the United Kingdom has engineered the common gut bacteria, Escherichia coli, to generate renewable propane. This...

Brain-to-brain communication system overview. On the left, the brain-computer interaction subsystem is shown schematically, including electrodes over the motor cortex and the EEG amplifier/transmitter wireless box in the cap. Motor imagery of the feet codes the bit value 0, of the hands codes bit value 1. On the right, the computer-brain interface system is illustrated, highlighting the role of coil orientation for encoding the two bit values. Communication between the brain-computer interaction and computer-brain interface system components is mediated by the Internet. Image credit: Grau C et al.

Neuroscientists Demonstrate Direct Brain-to-Brain Communication in Humans

Sep 4, 2014 by News Staff

In a groundbreaking study, scientists led by Dr Giulio Ruffini of Starlab Barcelona, Spain, have successfully transmitted the words ‘hola’ and ‘ciao’...

This image shows a transparent luminescent solar concentrator module. Image credit: Yimu Zhao.

Scientists Develop Transparent Solar Concentrator

Aug 25, 2014 by News Staff

The newly developed transparent luminescent solar concentrator can be used on buildings, cell phones and any other device that has a clear surface, says...

Neanderthal. Image credit: Neanderthal Museum.

Neanderthals Coexisted with Humans for More Than 5,000 Years

Aug 21, 2014 by News Staff

Anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals were both living in Europe for up to 5,400 years, says a new study conducted by Oxford University researcher...

False color, high-resolution image of the vanadium metallic glass, showing typical amorphous characteristics. Image credit: Li Zhong et al.

Scientists Turn Pure Metal into Glass

Aug 14, 2014 by News Staff

A team of materials scientists headed by Prof Scott Mao from the University of Pittsburgh has managed to make metallic glasses from pure, monoatomic metals. False...

Facial approximation of Homo floresiensis. Image credit: Susan Hayes / Australian Archaeological Association.

Homo floresiensis is not Distinct Human Species, Suggests New Research

Aug 9, 2014 by News Staff

A fresh study on Homo floresiensis, conducted by Prof Robert Eckhardt of Pennsylvania State University and his colleagues, suggests that LB1 – the...

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

Low Testosterone Led to Technology Boom 50,000 Years Ago, Anthropologists Say

Aug 2, 2014 by News Staff

According to a group of anthropologists headed by Dr Brian Hare of Duke University, a decline in testosterone levels about 50,000 years ago led to the...

Example wave model hindcast during the September 2012 storm in Arctic Ocean; the map is centered on the North Pole; the color scale indicates significant wave height from 0 to 5 m. Image credit: Jim Thomson / W. Erick Rogers.

Extreme Waves Recorded in Arctic Ocean

Jul 30, 2014 by News Staff

Five-meter-high waves have been detected in the middle of the Arctic Ocean by Dr Jim Thomson of the University of Washington and Dr Erick Rogers of the...

Aerial photograph of Mount Rainier taken on September 14, 2011. Image credit: Michael Arthur Hill / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Geophysicists Crack Secrets of Mount Rainier

Jul 19, 2014 by News Staff

A team of geophysicists led by Dr Stephane Rondenay from the University of Bergen has made a detailed picture of Mount Rainier’s deep volcanic plumbing. Aerial...

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

100,000-Year-Old Human Skull with Neanderthal-Like Inner Ear Found in China

Jul 8, 2014 by News Staff

Anthropologists are surprised by the presence of a unique inner-ear formation – long thought to occur only in Neanderthals – in an early human...