gear Push settings
A new study which involved the analysis of over 1.000 brain scans confirmed what many intuitively believed for a long time: men and women’s brains are hard wired differently. Maps of neural circuitry showed that on average women’s brains were highly connected across the left and right hemispheres, while men had better connections between the […]
So there’s this thing on Twitter (it’s been going on for a while now). So, is this the best science hashtag or what?
Generosity and fairness As shoppers all around got more or less advantageous deals on Black Friday, researchers at the University of Berkeley are analyzing what happens to commerce and buyers when there’s no fixed price tag – when shoppers pay as much as they want for products. As it turns out, they spend more money when […]
Schools in the US are failing on teaching children civic involvement Simply learning facts about democracy (for example) is not nearly enough Educators should get their hands dirty and focus more on controversial issues More and more researchers, teachers and educators are starting to support the idea of a major revolution in […]
War is horrific. It’s not what you see on TV, it’s not what you hear about in the news – you can not understand it unless you’ve seen it – something which I hope less and less people can claim. Among all wars carried out by mankind, World War II is by far the most […]
Google Glass is a hands-free technology, with potential applications in a myriad of fields Surgeons have recently started performing surgeries with Google Glass They report great results, as this technology can save a lot of time and effort Google Glass seems like the technology of Star Trek – except it’s here, now. For those who […]
Aside from being really cool and enabling wicked video game graphics, 3D imaging is also extremely useful in research, entering the labs as one of the most powerful tools in the 21st century. Using an imaging technique known as high-speed holographic microscopy, Laurence Wilson, a fellow at Harvard’s Rowland Institute, created detailed 3D images of […]
Trying to better understand how memories are stored inside a human brain, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Freiburg University used a video game in which people navigate through a virtual town delivering objects to specific locations; they found that brain cells add a geo-tag with spatial information to some memories, and this spacial […]
Apparently, there’s no limit to what you can develop via 3D printing. Researchers at the University of Liverpool are currently working towards developing synthetic skin that can be produced on a 3D printer and matched to a person based on their age, gender and ethnic group. 3D printing may be in its very early stages, […]
National Geographic invites photographers from all around the world to sign up for their 2013 National Geographic Photography Contest. The grand-prize winner will receive $10,000 (USD) and a trip to National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C., to participate in the annual National Geographic Photography Seminar in January 2014. There are three categories in which you can […]
Photons and molecules Scientists managed to ‘trick’ photons (the elementary particles of light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation) into forming molecules for the first time – a state of matter that until recently had been purely theoretical. Scientists from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are challenging the current paradigm […]
The wonder material Graphene, the new wonder material that promises to open a new age in technology, just got a whole lot better. Researchers have reported improved interfacing of graphene with other 2-D materials – basically ‘growing’ graphene on silver. This resulted in an exceptionally pristine sample, presenting opportunities for ultrafast electronics and advanced optics/ […]
Invasive (or alien species) are non-indigenous species that adversely affect the habitats they invade China currently has 550 invasive species, which cause losses of $15 billion yearly This affects the entire world, as China is the main exporter, and invasive species often piggyback exported goods Alien species When China opened its borders to international trade, […]
Mice in the control group refused to drink alcohol When a certain gene was deactivated, they started preferring alcohol over water Researchers stress that human alcoholism depends much more on environmental and personal factors Researchers have discovered a gene that regulates alcohol consumption; when this genes becomes faulty, it makes humans more prone to […]
Japanese researchers showed that cats are able to recognize their owners’ voices from other voices, but because they domesticated themselves, they never really needed to take notice. The study supports the idea that while cats are often kept as pets, they are beholden to no one. Reserchers Atsuko Saito and Kazutaka Shinozuka tested twenty housecats […]
The Permian extinction was the biggest extinction ever, killing 96% of all marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrates Possible causes include: impact, loss of oxygen and volcanic eruptions Researchers tested the validity of the last hypothesis, finding it likely The biggest extinction – ever MIT Researchers believe that rain as acidic as undiluted lemon […]
Chernobyl is still one of the most radioactive places on the face of the Earth, and authorities are working on a huge program to reduce any further risks of contamination. Work began in recent days to remove, bit by bit, the giant chimney protruding from the Chernobyl nuclear power station. The Chernobyl disaster was a […]
Norway’s Magnus Carlsen and India’s Viswanathan Anand are duking it out in the world championship, apparently, without anyone else contesting their supremacy. But as insanely good as they are, they still can’t stand up to the best computers today. As a matter of fact, there is one theory which, if proven, could pretty much spoil […]
Despite all the related problems which contribute to obesity such as stress , the main cause is… eating too much. Recent studies have shown that people tend to overeat when they are stressed out – often creating a negative cycle of eating more, gaining weight and then getting stressed out about gaining weight – especially […]
Seahorses are some of the most awful swimmers, but they’re still very efficient hunters. 90% of their hunt attempts are successful, compared to the lion’s 25% and the shark’s 50%. Their snouts are shaped to minimize water disturbances, allowing them to creep up on their prey. Seahorses may appear cute and slow, but […]
Researchers have developed a camera that can capture translucent objects in 3D The camera is very cheap, at only $500 The camera could be used in medical imaging and collision-avoidance detectors, among others A $500 “nano-camera” that can operate at the speed of light and take 3D pictures has been developed by researchers in the […]
Trees planted along a city street could screen residents from sun and noise – but more importantly, they can also protect them from the polluted air. A new study has shown that tree leaves can capture more than 50% of the polluting particulate matter – the main source of urban pollution and a trigger for […]
By now, hopefully, most people understand the huge problems caused by global warming – but most people probably don’t understand just how bad things are. Even if all emissions would somehow magically stop right now, the Earth would continue to warm for hundreds of years, according to a study published in the journal Nature Climate […]
Researchers have found that a very small portion of your brain plays a key role in decision making. A University of British Columbia study published in Nature Neuroscience says that we need to rethink what we know about the lateral habenula, a region of the brain previously linked to depression and avoidance behaviours; they claim […]
When herbivorous dinosaurs went to sleep, they had bad dreams about Tyrannosaurs. But what where Tyrannosaurs afraid of? If you’re thinking “Nothing”, then you’re really wrong. A new species of carnivorous dinosaur (one of the three largest ever discovered in North America) competed with them 98 million years ago – the newly discovered species, Siats […]
As much as we here at ZME Science love promoting science, we really hate it when the media misinterprets research and spreads false information. This time, everybody seems to be picking up the idea that 16% of the Finnish population is genetically HIV resistant. Here, we’re gonna discuss that study and why this isn’t really […]
Chesapeake Bay is one of the few oceanic impact craters on Earth When the huge impact took place ~35 million years ago, it sealed the ancient oceanic water The water has remained virtually unchanged since then A new study published in Nature provides chemical, isotopic and physical evidence that groundwater found at about 1.5 […]
Researchers have found obsidian spearheads dated 85.000 years ago before the development of Homo Sapiens (280.000 years ago). This is a very complicated process, requiring numerous steps and lots of concentration and skill This has 2 possible explanations: either humans evolved much earlier than previously believed, either another species had advanced craftsmanship skills […]
Among the many laudable initiatives for which Bill Gates is donating a lot of money (including HIV and malaria vaccine research and artificial clouds to fight greenhouse gases), there’s also a prize for developing better condoms. Because current latex varieties can dull sensation, Gates encouraged entrepreneurs to create a condom that “significantly preserves or enhances […]
An iceberg the size of Singapore has separated from Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier This kind of detachment is not uncommon, but rarely on this magnitude Singapore is an island-city-state, about the size of Budapest or Dubai Between November 9–11, 2013, a large iceberg finally separated from the calving front of Antarctica’s Pine Island […]
A team from Columbia Engineering researchers, led by Mechanical Engineering Professor James Hone and Electrical Engineering Professor Kenneth Shepard has managed to take advantage of graphene’s unique properties (it’s strength and electric conduction) to create a nano-mechanical system that can create FM signals – in other words, the world’s smallest radio. “This work is significant […]
Men have noses 10 cm longer than women (on average), even with the same body size This happens because men have more muscle tissue, which needs an extra oxygen intake This change starts happening during puberty Human noses come in all shapes and sizes, but despite that, generally speaking, men noses are significantly larger than […]
Most fossils are very fragile, difficult to handle and transport Researchers conducted CT scans on fossils still trapped in sedimentary material, creating 3D models The models were then 3D printed – an accurate, non invasive method to replicate fossils for schools, museums and other researchers Doctors and dinosaurs Being a paleontologist and working […]
The climate crisis we are facing right now (which for one reason or another many people choose to ignore) has largely been caused by only 90 companies – which between them produced nearly two-thirds of the greenhouse gas emissions generated since the industrial revolution, new research suggests. The study was found that almost all these […]
There’s quite a common belief that if you provide welfare and lots of financial support to the jobless, they will lose motivation to find work and will become lazy and unproductive; that idea is wrong. High unemployment benefits do not lead to people becoming lazy and satisfied with their jobless status, a Europe-wide study suggests. […]
The new drug is the most promising since morphine was introduced – it is 100 times more potent than existing pain medications, but it works at very low doses, without inducing the risk of addiction. Predator snails and painkillers Snail venom in a pill could offer powerful relief for people suffering from severe (acute or […]
A new genome analysis study suggests that interbreeding between modern humans, Neanderthals, Denisovans and a mysterious archaic population was way more common than previously believed. A Lord of the Rings world Several decades ago, many anthropologists believed that humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans didn’t interbreed at all; as time passed, some evidence of this started popping […]
Global warming is real, it’s affecting us all, and it’s gonna get worse – and we have nobody to blame but ourselves. The IPPC report The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a scientific intergovernmental body with the purpose of providing ‘comprehensive scientific assessments of current scientific, technical and socio-economic information worldwide about the […]
An international team of researchers led by Ralf Tappert, from the University of Innsbruck, reconstructed the composition of Earth’s atmosphere of the last 220 million years by analyzing modern and fossil plant resins. Their results indicate that atmospheric oxygen was considerably lower in Earth’s geological past than previously assumed – providing valuable information about current […]
Geologists have now found the most compelling evidence of granites on Mars – something which prompts more complex theories about the geology and tectonic activity on the Red Planet. Granites and basalts Granites are igneous rocks, pretty common on the surface of Earth. It is often called a ‘felsic’ (white rock) – because it is […]
In quite an interesting discovery, Wildlife Conservation Society biologists have discovered cave paintings made by hunter-gatherers between 10,000 to 4,000 years ago while studying wild animals in the Taboco region. An unexpected find To add more mystery to the situation, the discovery was made in 2009, but it has been kept a secret until now […]
To say that finding evidence of how life on Earth was 3.5 billion years ago is hard would be an understatement. Reconstructing the rise of life in its early stages is a monumental challenge – the evidence is only preserved in Earth’s oldest sedimentary rocks, and sedimentary rocks of that age are very hard to […]
Music isn’t only restricted to humans – music skills evolved at least 30 million years ago in the common ancestor of humans and monkeys, claims a new study that tries to explain why for example chimps drum on tree roots and monkey calls sound like singing. It’s one of the big puzzles in biology and […]
As part of a great campaign to make the people from Moscow healthier, riders who buy the ticket at Vystavochnaya station in western Moscow now have the option to pay in squats. Get ready to drop down and give me 30 – if you want to ride the subway for free, that is. In an […]
This is a part of an opalized tree, and the rings you see are actually tree rings; or at least they were. This is an very rare sample: opal can be fairly common in petrified wood, but this is a fire opal, which makes it so much more valuable. Fire opals are transparent to translucent […]
A strange evolutionary alliance between trees and the ants that guard them has a sinister explanation, a new study suggests, after studying ants hooked on nectar. Bodyguard ants and addiction In Central America, ants act as bodyguards for acacia trees, defending them not only from weeds, but also from animals, in exchange for accomodation and […]
The past 12 months have been 0.22 degrees Celsius warmer than any other equivalent period prior to 2013, and Australia is steadily on track for the warmest year ever. Warmer and warmer A new Climate Council study, titled Off the Charts, says that the country has just had its warmest ever 12-month period, from 1 […]
Dogs are slaughtered and skinned in public during an ancient festival in the streets of Qianxi township. However, China has now banned the dog-eating festival that dates back more than 600 years after a Chinese internet uproar. The festival initially marked a victory of the Ming dynasty, in which dogs in Qianxi were killed so […]
A study published earlier this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy correlated 93 small earthquakes in Texas (near a city called Snyder) with underground injection of large volumes of gas, primarily carbon dioxide, in a technique called CO2 flooding. Not fracking, but flooding CO2 flooding is a technique that doesn’t refer to extraction, […]
You know what sucks about riding a bike? Except for, you know, all the traffic and all the reckless car drivers, and rain, and sometimes being really tired? Bike helmets. Of course, they do provide the advantage of keeping your brain from getting splattered if you crash, but they’re not really comfortable, and they take […]
