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Sugar addiction could be treated with the same drugs we use for nicotine addiction

People frequently overindulge, sometimes to the point of developing sugar addictions. There has been a lot of interest in the pharmaceutical industry in finding treatments that can combat this effect, with little results up to now. But, a world-first study led by QUT might change that.

New electric fork simulates a salty flavor by shocking your tongue

Adding extra-salt may make food tastier, but it can also has a negative effect on your health. With that in mind, Japanese researchers have invented a fork that creates a salty taste in your mouth at the press of a button, by releasing an electrical current which stimulates the tongue. Salt has long been associated with blood […]

People pick up and use discarded USB drives they find almost half the time

Portable data storage, such as USB drives, might not be quite as useful or sought after as they once were but they remain an undeniably handy method to carry your data around.

Scientists create artificial skin that sprouts new hairs and sweats

Creating artificial skin may sound weird, but it can be extremely useful (or even life saving) for people who suffered from burns or any type of similar accident; it is also useful for testing drugs or cosmetic products. Skin transplants are a growing need, and many teams from across the world hope to one day […]

The new Rembrandt: Computer creates new "Rembrandt painting"

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn is one of the most talented and famous artists in human history. It's been almost four centuries since he created his unique masterpieces. Now, a team of artists, researchers and programmers wanted to see if they can create a new Rembrandt painting - through a computer algorithm.

Composite metal foam better at stopping bullets than solid plates

Composite metal foam (CMF) is light, but strong -- it can even stop bullets!

White Nose Bat Syndrome spreads deeper into the U.S. -- first case confirmed west of the Rockies

The first case of white nose syndrome, a disease that has wreaked havoc on bat populations in the eastern U.S. has been identified west of the Rockies. The disease's spread threatens to drastically impact bat populations there, altering ecosystems throughout the country.

NASA plans to make airplanes cleaner and 50% more fuel efficient by reviving the wing truss

NASA plans to improve today's planes with a blast from the past -- re-implementing a structure known as a wing truss would reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions of common commercial aircraft by as much as 50%, according to computational models.

Touching a robot's 'intimate parts' arouses humans

Here's a great way to spend science dollars: see if humans literally find robots sexy. They do sort of, or so conclude Stanford researchers who asked volunteers to touch an anthropomorphic robot in various body parts.

Scientists develop Cello, a programming language for bacteria

Biological engineers have created a programming language that allows them to rapidly and efficiently program and design DNA-encoded circuits, giving new functions to living cells. There are already a myriad of programming languages. Fortran and C++ allow for rapid computations, PHP is a scripting language for web development, Ruby is a popular object-oriented language – […]

Chocolate-inspired technique helps researchers develop better polymer shells

For centuries, chocolatiers have been trying to develop the perfect chocolate coating for bonbons, honing their skill to the point of artistic performance. But scientists believe they can take things even further.

3-D printed electronic egg could help save vultures

Fake 3-D printed eggs packed with sensors help scientist learn how vultures incubate their eggs. This way, they might be one day able to incubate their own eggs, without having to rely on vultures.

Researchers on the hunt for students' junk-food-gene

Takeout, instant noodles and cheap beer -- the only known organisms able to survive solely on these three items are university students. A new study examined undergraduates' dietary habits to see what powers their resilience to low-quality food, and if this trait can be grafted into human beings.

The "war on drugs" has only harmed human rights and public health -- not supply and demand

A new report questions the legitimacy of today's "War on Drugs," seeing as the five-decade long process has failed to reduce either the supply or demand for narcotics. The authors urge for 'scientifically grounded' policies to be implemented, including regulated markets for cannabis.

The cake isn't a lie -- but the nutritional value on the box definitely is

Food packaging does influence the amount of calories consumed, a new study found. By showing portion sizes much larger than recommended, the pictures on various product's packaging could make it difficult to eat healthy. Extras such as toppings or frosting on cakes are also usually not taken into account on nutritional labels, exacerbating the problem.

KTH researchers develop transparent wood for use in building and solar panels

Wood, one of the cheapest and most widely used construction materials humanity has ever employed, has just had its range of uses expanded; Researchers at Stockholm's KTH Royal Institute of Technology have developed a method of turning wood transparent that's suitable for mass production.

New plasma printing technique can deposit nanomaterials on flexible, 3D substrates

A new nanomaterial printing method could make it both easier and cheaper to create devices such as wearable chemical and biological sensors, data storage and integrated circuits -- even on flexible surfaces such as paper or cloth. The secret? Plamsa.

Unicorns might have been real, but they look nothing like in fairy tales

Russian paleontologists dated the fossil remains of a Elasmotherium sibiricum, a giant beast the size of a mammoth with a saber like horn, and found these were 35,000 years old. That places the closest resembling unicorn animal in the same place and time with humans migrating and settling Asia.

Scientists may be able to read scrolls burned by lava in AD 79

In the year 79, the Vesuvius volcano erupted, wiping out the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and killing at least 1,500 people. But while Pompeii usually takes the spotlight, it's Herculaneum that may provide us with key information.

Scientists achieve a record 57Gbps through fiber optic lines

Data is key to our modern society, and data transfer has become pivotal for many industries, as well as for our day to day lives. Thankfully, the maximum speed is constantly increasing and while we may not see this in current infrastructure, there are reasons to be optimistic. University of Illinois researchers report that they’ve […]

Viking treasure pot, opened more than 1,000 years after it was hidden in modern Galloway

The first images of Viking treasure, stashed in a pot more than 1,000 years ago and buried in a field in Galloway, have been made public by the conservators working to preserve them. The items, including six silver disk brooches, a gold ingot and Byzantine silk, are not currently on display.

Nano-enhanced textiles could lead us to a brighter future with no laundry

Tired of laundry day? Pioneering nano research into self-cleaning textiles could soon make cleaning your clothes as easy as hanging them out on a sunny day.

Climate change is impacting wine grape harvest dates in Switzerland and France, NASA finds

A new collaboration study between NASA and Harvard University found that climate change is breaking an important link between droughts and the grape harvests in France and Switzerland.

Scientists create graphene patch to help manage diabetes

Scientists have developed a graphene patch that can monitor sugar levels in diabetic patients as well as deliver metformin - a drug used to treat diabetes - through the skin.

Public Service Announcement: Old Kindles will be disconnected from the internet unless you update by Tuesday

If you’re like me, then you still use the old Kindle model because hey – if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. Also, if you’re like me, you’re usually pressing the ‘Skip’ button whenever updates are in store. If this is the case, then you should know that your old Kindle will be disconnected from […]

Bread mold could build the batteries of the future

A study into a strain of red bread mold could revolutionize our rechargeable battery technology. The paper's findings could be the first step towards producing sustainable electrochemical materials.

This is how one French power plant produces electricity using cheese

The town of Albertville in southeastern France has begun using cheese to generate electricity. Their power plant, build in the Savoie region, uses the byproduct of the local Beaufort cheeses as the base for its biogas power generation system.

Heavy marijuana users process stressful stimuli similarly to those with an anxiety disorder

Heavy marijuana users react to anxiety-inducing stimuli similarly to people diagnosed with anxiety disorders, a new study found. The results could help improve the accuracy of anxiety disorder diagnostics in the future.

Islamic art inspires metamaterial that grows when stretched

A new type of metamaterial that can grow when stretched, with possible applications for medical equipment and satellites, was inspired by an unlikely source -- ancient Islamic art.

The Crunch Effect -- how listening to your chewing can help you lose weight

The sounds you make while chewing have a significant effect on the amount of food you eat, a new study has found. The results suggest that people are likely to consume less if they can hear themselves eating.

Off-grid shower recovers and purifies 96% of water for you to use again

What's the most important resource on the planet? Water of course.

New SARS-like virus can jump directly to humans from bats

A virus similar to SARS has been identified in Chinese horseshoe bats that may be able to infect humans without prior adaptation. Overcoming this genetic barrier could be the first step for an outbreak, according to a study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Biological wheels and motors imaged for the first time

Morgan Beeby and his colleagues at the Imperial College London used electron microscopy to image these biological motors in high resolution and three dimensions for the first time.

More than 13 million Americans could be at risk from sea level rise by 2100

A new study analyzing sea level rise forecasts as well as population growth projections found that we've underestimated just how many people would be impacted by rising waters. Anywhere from 4.3 to 13.1 million people from the US alone will face the risk of inundation by 2100, according to their estimate.

Batteries made from carbon nanotubes are lit like a fuse to make power

Lithium, the stuff the battery in your smartphone or notebook are made of, is a toxic substance and in short supply. It's pretty clear it's not a sustainable solution to our mobile power generation needs. One alternative explored by researchers at MIT uses carbon nanotubes, which are non-toxic and non-metallic.

Six cockroach-sized micro robots tow a 3,900-Pound Car

Inspired by ants, researchers mimicked the insects' individual super strength and collective hive mind in tiny robots. Each weighs only 0.2 pounds, but six were enough to tow a 3,900 pound-car, with one of the researchers seated as well.

Humanity strikes back - Go champion wins round against dominant AI

It's been a tough run for Go champion Lee Se-dol who lost game after game in what could very well be the match of the century, against Google's AlphaGo algorithm.

No web, no worries -- spiders also like to eat vegetarian

Spiders' diets aren't limited to juicy insect bits. They spice up their menus with vegetarian courses too, zoologists from the US and UK have found.

Research team grows "dinosaur legs" on a chicken for the first time

Researchers have manipulated the genome of chicken embryos so that they develop dinosaur-like bones in their lower legs.

Evolution selects the most effective genes -- even by a hundredth of a percent

A new study measuring the forces that shape bacterial genomes determined that a difference in efficiency of hundredth of a percent is sufficient to determine the winners and losers in the evolutionary race.

Paper skin made with Post-it notes, aluminium foil and other household items

Inspired to 'make tomorrow now', an industrious team of Saudi researchers baffled everyone by demonstrating an artificial skin made with household items.

Religious attendance in the US follows the same trend as everywhere else -- downwards

Religiousness in the Unites States is on the decline, mirroring patterns seen across the western world a new study from UCL and Duke University finds.

How the American diet leaves people both overfed and undernourished at the same time

More than half of American's calories come from ultra-processed foods, a new study finds. The data also indicates close to 90% of total added sugar intake can be traced back to these foodstuffs.

After Go, Google AI has its eyes set on Starcraft

Google engineers may have their eyes set on Starcraft - a strategy computer game.

Computer Beats Go World Champ, Leading Series 2-0

Google's algorithm AlphaGo stunned the world by defeating Go legend Lee Se-dol yesterday, and today, it just won the second game of the series.

Study hints at a form of bacterial collective memory

A new study found that whole populations of bacteria retain their tolerance to stressors for a much longer duration than individual cells.

This protein might be the key to developing the fabled slim-pill -- that actually works

An international team has discovered that by inhibiting Gq protein production in adipose tissue, cells can be re-purposed from storing fat to burning it.

Using origami, scientists are making the smallest surgical tools yet

Mechanical engineers at Brigham Young University are combining the versatility of origami with mechanical know-how to produce the smallest surgical tools.

Young children may benefit from playing video games

Researchers found a positive association between the amount of time spent playing video games and children's mental health as well as their mental and social aptitudes.

Is the impact of climate change on agriculture underestimated?

A new paper suggests that we've been overlooking how two key human responses to climate -- the total area farmed and the number of crops planted -- will impact food production in the future.

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