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A remarkable research whose findings recently published in the journal Cell, concludes that intense physical exercise leads to chemical alteration of the DNA, turning certain genes on and off. In fact, individuals which lead a relatively sedentary lifestyle changed the DNA in their muscle fibers almost immediately, after a strenuous 35 minute work-out. It’s important […]
In what might seem an oddball experiment in the first instance, later revealing some very interesting scientific facts, a Kyoto University researcher asked 60 women participating in a study to look at a 9-photo grid (eight were of flowers, and another captioned a snake) and identify as quickly as possible the snake photo. Women who were […]
Researchers have completed the great apes family’s genetic library after they sequenced the genes of a western lowland gorilla, joining the already-sequenced genomes of humans, chimpanzees and orangutans. Scientists found that gorillas, which share 98% of their genes with humans, are a lot more related to humans than previously thought, as well as surprising genetic differences which […]
Since they were first introduced more than 70 years ago, electron microscopes have aided researchers from a diverse array of fields of science reach some of the world’s greatest scientific breakthroughs – most often they’ve been considered indispensable. They’ve well reached their limits, however, and University of Sheffield researchers sought to find an alternate route for sub-atomic imaging. […]
Velociraptors have been repeatedly described by paleonthologists as voracious predators, however a recent study of a 75 million year old specimen revealed that the dinosaur wasn’t picky at all, and didn’t miss the chance to pass a free meal. The conclusion came after a pterosaur or “Pterodactyl” bone was found in its gut, suggesting that its […]
Antarctica is home to one of harshest environments in the world, but exactly because of this it exhibit a unique set of fauna to the world. As the local arctic climate warms, however, and an increasing number of tourists and scientists are bringing in thousands of seeds, once pristine ecosystems are now at risk. Seeds […]
A recently published study suggests that the Earth might have been visited by a giant space rock 13,000 years ago, an event which might have sparked an unusual cold period in the planet’s climate history. The Younger Dryas, also known as the Big Freeze, was a brief period of cold climatic conditions and drought which occurred […]
The biggest manhunt in physics history is steadily closing in on its target. Wanted – Higgs boson, also known as the God Particle. Reason – explain why objects have mass and provide “missing link” for standard model of physics. Sketch portrait – mass around 125 GeV. Last seen – Fermilab Tevatron particle accelerator. If you […]
Faster than light travel is not only an exciting SciFi concept which has spurred the imagination of countless geek generations since the first Star Trek season aired on television, it’s also a necessity if mankind is ever to surpass its condition and truly aim for the stars. Warp-drive technology has been on the forefront of […]
What are the differences between a bottle of premium, high rated Pinot Noir and a shelf classic Merlot? Well, besides a lot of money, wine critics would be quick to detail all the subtle differences that come together in an amalgam of sensations, and consequently make the premium look like a divine gift from Dyonisis […]
Xinwei Wang, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Iowa State studies thermal conductivity – and he had a funny feeling about spiders; so he ordered eight spiders — Nephila clavipes, golden silk orbweavers — and put them to work eating crickets and spinning webs in the cages he set up. Wang has been looking for organic […]
While there’s a common assumption that once with old age, sleep quality tends to deteriorate, a recent study published in the journal Sleep suggests that the opposite is actually true. Thus, the older you are, the higher the chances of you having a good night’s sleep. The conclusion came after more than 150,000 adults were telephone […]
A newly published paper in the journal Science provides a worrisome report – the world’s oceans are acidifying at a rate, which if set to continue, will be unprecedented in the last 300 million years. The scientists report that this comes as a direct consequence of the alarming ever increasing carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere, […]
Psychedelic mushrooms have been used for medical, ceremonial and spiritual purposes for thousands of years, due their mind-alterating properties which induce hallucinations, perception disorders or altered states of awareness. It’s been found that the active ingredient responsible for the psychedelic state, which many associated with a religious experience, is a substance called psilocybin. Though a lot is […]
Although the T. rex isn’t the largest carnivorous dinosaur to have roamed Earth, a new study that used computer models to reconstruct its skull muscles reveals that his bite was the most powerful one ever of all terrestrial animals, extinct or living. Biomechanics experts at Liverpool University, UK, used laser scanners to digitize the skulls […]
According to a recently released study authored by American physicians, sleeping pills are linked to a more-than fourfold risk of premature death. If that wasn’t enough, the study goes on to state that people who take high doses are associated with a 35-percent increased risk of cancer, compared to non-users, although a valid explanation as to why this happens […]
A new study which analyzed Neanderthal DNA suggests that our close, now extinct relatives were on the point of dying off as a race well before humans made their appearance in Western Europe. The team of international researchers analyzed the mitochondrial DNA extracted from the bones of 13 Neanderthals, and studied its variation. Mitochondrial DNA is copious […]
A recent study performed by a team of American/Chinese scientists shows that there’s a direct link between the progressive shrinking ice in the Arctic and in the increasingly harsher snowy winters in the US, Europe and China. In the year 2007, the level of Arctic sea ice hit a record low, which hasn’t recovered to this day. […]
A linguistic study found that people who regularly text message are less likely to accept new words, as opposed to those that read more traditional print media such as books, magazines, and newspapers. For the study, student volunteers were asked about their reading habits and text messaging frequency, and then presented with a set of […]
You probably remember the massive 9.1 earthquake that struck Japan last year and the subsequent problems that followed – most notably the huge tsunamis that struck the Fukushima nuclear plant, bringing it close to a meltdown. Now, according to the first scientific assessment made on the spot, the tsunami was indeed as formidable as the […]
For a number of years now researchers have been studying the sirtuin gene and the proteins encoded in it as it is believed to be directly linked to prolonged lifespan. A myriad of individual studies were performed with mixed results, and so far hundreds of millions have been allocated for research in this direction. A […]
A team of researchers comprised of scientists at the NanoScience Center of the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and at Harvard University, US, have shown through computer simulations a novel technique for generation nanomaterials. The whole process revolves around the extremely simple idea of twisting narrow graphene nanoribbons until they become rolled up into carbon nanotubes, […]
Bergmann’s rule states that mammals of a given genus or species are smaller in hotter climates, and bigger in colder climates. Adapted, when faced with climate change cycles, mammals shirk as temperature rises and scale back up in size, once the cycle ends and makes room for cooling. Simple correlation, based on fossils and temperature readings […]
Good news for men, and especially women: the Y chromosome, which holds the male sex determining genes in most mammals, including humans, is not going extinct, as some claim, as a new research found that the diminishing gene numbers have come to a halt and will remain this way. Sex chromosomes come in pairs, such […]
There’s some good coming off China’s extensive coal exploitation (the nation holds the top place for most pollutant emissions resulting from burning coal), as recent mining activities around Wuda in Inner Mongolia, China, has uncovered an almost perfectly preserved 298 million year-old forest. The forest, which also features intact trees with leaves, branches, trunk and […]
Australian scientists at University of New South Wales have successfully managed to build the first single-atom transistor, using a scalable, repeatable technique. The scientific community all over the world have already hailed this achievement as a highly important milestone, as single-atom transistors are considered as a critical building block for the eventual development of quantum computers. […]
Around 1843, on the night sky all of a sudden a new luminous star made its appearance. That luminous star, which at the time was actually the 2nd brightest star, after Sirius, was actually the result of a explosion in Eta Carinae system – the brightest star in the Milky Way. The eruption spewed a […]
Four hundred of the most popular lipsticks in the US contain trace levels of lead, according to tests conducted by the federal government – a number much bigger than what was expected. Five of the L’Oreal and Maybelline lipsticks ranked among the top 10 most contaminated brands, as well as two Cover Girl and two […]
Researchers report that after testing on lab mice an FDA-approved drug, used as treatment for skin cancer, that significant improvements in cognitive recovery were signaled, shinning a new ray of hope for Alzheimer patients. Neuroscientists Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine discovered that bexarotene, a skin cancer drug, remarkably also appears to reverse cognitive […]
Scientists have come a step closer to mimicking the aerodynamics of flying animals in nature, which might lead to the creation of flapping-winged aircraft in the future, after a new breakthrough in the field. The study, conducted by biomimetic researchers at New York University, finds that the ideal weight-distribution for hovering is totally opposite from […]
Researchers at University of Wisconsin-Madison recently carried out an linguistic analysis that compared descriptions posted by online dating sites users (height, weight, age, personality traits etc.) and their actual, true characteristics. The results weren’t that surprising at all – almost everybody lied at least about something. Interestingly enough, the communication experts involved in the study […]
Butterflies are one of the most enchanting beings in the animal kingdom, a symbol of grace and beauty encountered in every art form. From a crawling larva to a majestic winged creature, it’s difficult not to take notice of the similarities between the butterfly’s metamorphosis process and the ups and downs life serves before one […]
While there are still a lot of climate change skeptics out there that argue that the human influence exerted upon Earth’s climate is minimal, if not non-existent, a myriad of research studies tackling the subject would say otherwise. Fossil fuels usage yields the most greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, out of all other human-induced pollutant […]
Scientists from China, US and Mexico have used light detection and ranging laser altimetry (LiDAR) to study how an earthquake can change the surrounding landscape. Using this technique, the researchers were able to establish with high accuracy where the Earth’s crust ruptured. If the same technique were to be established around all major high-risk areas for earthquake, […]
The origins of life is one of the biggest mysteries scientists have been trying to unravel for a very long time. While a lot of effort is being directed to finding alien life, it’s crucial, at least in my opinion, for us to understand how the first signs of life spurred on our own planet. […]
Last year, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, produced a draft of the Denisova genome, in order study in what proportion they relate to homo sapiens sapiens. The Denisovans, are a new group of hominids, discovered just two years ago, which is believed to have lived around 30,000 years ago, alongside Neanderthals and […]
The size of a fist when fully grown, the tiny Philippine tarsier has always been considered a very quiet being. Ironically, this big eyed, lemur-like animal wasn’t quiet at all, you just needed the right ears to hear him our. Recently, researchers at Humboldt State University in California have proven that the Philippine tarsier is quite the chatty being, […]
If you’re reading this post via e-mail or RSS, please visit the post’s page on the website to view the video interview. MIT researchers, guided by Andreas Mershin’s vision of a world fueled by cheap and renewable electricity, have recently published a paper in which they explain how photovoltaic panels made from plants can be […]
Space offers incredibly fascinating experimental conditions for various scientific studies, otherwise very hard or practically impossible to replicate on Earth. Microgravity is something of great interest to scientists, and even simple experiments with fire are extremely insightful. Combustion in space occurs at much lower temperatures and with a lower amount of required oxygen, and to […]
Hailed as a breakthrough in reconstructive surgery, an 83-year old woman had her lower jaw replaced by an exact 3D printed replica made out of titanium. The implant was made by heating and fusing together titanium ore, one layer at a time with a laser. The procedure took place last summer in the Netherlands, but […]
For the past three years, scientists have been analyzing data fed back by the 2008 NASA Phoenix mission to Mars, which touch landed on the planet’s northern poles. Even though there was ice, soil analysis showed that the planet has been suffering from a massive, 600 million years long drought, providing inhospitable life supporting conditions on its […]
Modern technology has revolutionized the way we communicate forever. From the telegraph, to the wire telephone, to the internet, to extremely capable smartphones, technology, fueled by scientific advancements, has helped people communicate easily with one another and be aware of what’s going on in world instantly. Too much of anything, however, can be harmful, and […]
From a certain age onward, humans seem to process information at a slower pace – learning new things becomes more difficult, remembering where you put the car keys seems to give headaches, and it gets ever worse as we age even more. Neuroscientists at the University of Bristol studying dysfunctional neural communication in Alzheimer patients demonstrated that the […]
A team of researchers, lead by itch expert Gil Yosipovitch, have studied which parts of the body produce the most pleasure when scratched, and found that scratch relief varies along different areas of the body. If you believe this study is totally irrelevant or useless, Yosipovitch believes otherwise and explains how the science of itching […]
Around 140 millions years ago, mammals didn’t even outsize a modern day mouse, as dinosaurs dominated Earth’s crowded surface. As the latter became extinct, a myriad of free ecosystems and niches opened up, including those once dominated by giant plant eating dinosaurs, and mammals where quick to fill these up. After compiling and analyzing a […]
Darwin’s theory of natural selection illustrates perfectly what evolution is all about, the survival of the fittest if you will. It’s because of natural selection that a crocodile has an armor-like skin to protect it against enemies, a chameleon can change its color and camouflage itself for protection and hunting or humans evolved a more […]
Detailed in a recently published study, a team of ophthalmologists have successfully managed to improve the vision of both of their trial patients, which were declared legally blind due to macular degeneration, by inserting human embryonic stem cells into one eye of each person. Significant improvements were recognized shortly after the procedure, and continued to […]
In the popular TV series, Star Trek, one of the most fascinating devices featured, out of the whole myriad of blasters and tractor beams, is the tricorder, a portable medical scanner and communication device which could detect biological phenomena such as increased blood flow around tumorous growths just by sweeping a person. The closest thing […]
University of Bristol scientists have developed a magnetic soap, which basically is a common soap only it’s filled with iron atoms that causes the targeted waste material to become magnetized. The detergent has a real potential of revolutionizing how mega clean-ups will be handled in the future. An oil spill could be cleaned a lot […]
Researchers at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have used the world’s most powerful X-ray laser fired upon a neon gas capsule and thus emit an avalanche of short wavelength X-rays,creating the first atom laser. The same laser was used to heat a lump of matter at over 2 million degrees Fahrenheit – hotter than the sun’s […]
