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“Money can’t buy happiness”. I don’t think there is a language that doesn’t have at least one version of this saying. But how about an expensive gift? Would that be tempting enough? Idealists will say that there is no value in the amount of money paid for a certain present. However, surprisingly or not, researchers […]
That advertising can make people buy more alcohol is mostly understandable as this is the main role of a commercial. However, what if simply seeing your favorite hero drinking a glass of fine whiskey could determine you to use your pocket money for the same purpose? And what if the very young are so influenced […]
If you are a smoker you’ve definitely heard more arguments than you can count against keeping such a habit. However, you continued to smoke, no matter what scary studies did scientists come up with. But apparently, this is not a decision to affect only you: your canary, dog, cat or why not turtle, might be […]
Tired of sitting in a corner at parties and spending most of your spare time conceiving evil plans to destroy the world? I am sure you would want to buy whatever it is that makes some Mr. or Miss Congeniality, but unfortunately, as researchers at Harvard University have discovered, it may all be in the […]
Apparently, scientists have finally found the answer (or, at least part of it) to the QUESTION: what is it that makes women cheat on their partners? Before starting to call names if it has already happened to you, find out that it’s not a more expensive car or a bigger account, but something else: a […]
You’ve grown tired of hearing one of your friends telling you he’s got the music in his blood since the day he was born and you sigh. You’d probably be surprised to find out that a new study proves he is totally right. Unfortunately for him though, there’s nothing special about that: every 2 or […]
There are only 600 left in the entire world and each of them costs 5 million $. Their divine, impossible-to-reproduce sound fascinated generations of kings, noblemen, artists…and scientists, thus becoming one of the greatest musical mysteries in the world. But apparently we should not be afraid of losing the delightful sounds of a Stradivarius or […]
You feel a fantastic flavor and are eager to find the source of it. You let your nostrils direct you but oddly, a little mouse seems to have got there first and seems to enjoy it just as much as you do. Didn’t happen? Well, it’s not the beginning of a Stephen King novel, or […]
It seems science and creationism are just taking sides and throwing rocks at each other; recently, they’ve taken things to a whole new level, each bringing out more or less relevant arguments to support their ideas; of course, the juiciest discussions are focused on the Bible: is it or not true, does it refer to […]
Despite whatever you may hear, it’s obvious that we still don’t have a clear understanding of the impact we’re having on the planet we call home; there are studies that show we’re totally destroying it, and there are studies that we’re an ant on a mountain, so it’s really hard to say for sure how […]
Worried about friends who immerse themselves into violent video games all day long? Well, stop fearing they may turn into blood-thirsty maniacs (but you can keep worrying about their addiction) because, as researchers have discovered, it is not the gore details that cause one to play for endless hours, but the feeling of overcoming a […]
You may or may not have heard about blue stragglers; they are blue stars that are hotter and bluer than other stars with the same luminosity. Until now, it seemed that these stars defied most if not all of the standard stellar theories, but scientists now believe they have finally solved this stellar mistery. The […]
Eating too much fatty food does not only lead to being overweight and related diseases, but it can also disturb the balance of one’s circadian rhythms, which means your 24-hour biological clock will stop working thee way it should. Dr. Oren Froy and his colleagues of the Institute of Biochemistry, Food Science and Nutrition at […]
So the male mosquito comes, humming an Elvis song, with a rose in his mouth… maybe I’m taking this a bit too far. You know that pesky mosquito sound ?? Scientists have known for years that that is the sound of love for the little buggers. But what they didn’t know, and is quite fascinating […]
A study conducted by entomology and neuroscience professor Gene Robinson from the University of Illinois sheds new light on the way insect brain works proving that honey bees on cocaine tend to overreact. Usually, foraging honey bees alert the others from the hive about food sources only when more food is necessary or when the […]
The latest study conducted by researchers from the Duke University Medical Center was performed on two groups of (old and young) adults. The first group had an average age of about 70 while the younger ones were about 24 years old. Neuroscientists found out that the mechanism behind the part of the brain responsable for […]
Combining law and neuroscience, the researchers at Vanderbilt University conducted a revolutionary study in order to find out exactly how one’s brain assesses crime and punishment. After a crime has been committed an impartial third party has the role to decide whether the accused is guilty or not and how severe the punishment should be. […]
Researchers over that the Indiana University conducted a study that led to rather surprising conclusions. Despite the fact that women who used condoms as a contraceptive method reported that the condom caused a decrease in pleasure, those who used both condoms and hormonal contraception found more pleasure in sex. The researchers suggest that this inconsistency […]
Feeling the need for scientific research to back up the ‘dirty old men’ myth, Gothenburg University and Oxford University scientists performed a study on 400 lonely hearts ads to see how men and women choose their partners. What they wanted was to test some theories about how men and women pick their partners in general. […]
Even though most of us like to think that the decisions we make are rational and based on relevant factors weighed by our mind, more and more research comes to prove that many times people are subconsciously influenced by many other factors including…cleanliness. New research in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological […]
No other continent in the world (that’s not counting Antarctica) is studied by less ecologists than Africa; that is actually paradoxal, because cities are growing here faster than any other continent on Earth. Just less than a century ago, 5% of people lived in urban areas, while now, almost 40% call a city their home. […]
Though we have to admit there are some small steps toward an improving in general health care, we’ve expressed our opinion about how bad things are on numerous occasions. Only the fact that major pharmaceutical companies spend more on advertising than research is a huge problem, that (along with others) leads to a domino-like effect […]
Contrary to almost a half of century of research, Elly Nedivi, associate professor of neurobiology at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and colleagues found that a certain type of neuron that plays a crucial part in autism spectrum disorders is able in fact to remodel itself. It can do this in a strip […]
The gender of the person one receives the heart from may in fact prove highly important for their future evolution. As reported on November the 12th at the American Heart Association’s annual Scientific Sessions meeting, the number of patients whose gender matched their donors’ proved to be less likely to reject the organ or to […]
We all know that seeing female models can have a negative effect on how women think about themselves, but really, it seems hard to believe that they would have the same effect on men. Still, Jennifer Aubrey, a leading researcher of media effects on body image, completed three different studies that led to the same […]
Intelligence is very hard to define as a trait, as it’s usually a simplified term used to describe a quantum of related abilities, such as the ability to solve problems, to understand abstract issues, to learn and to plan. But the notion of intelligence should (by any means) be understood at a whole new level, […]
A surprising new discovery shows that unconsciously people are more likely to vote the candidate whose facial features are more similar to their own. So, does a familiar face attract more votes? In a paper that is to be published in the December issue of Public Opinion Quarterly, Jeremy Bailenson, an assistant professor of communication, […]
It’s not because they deserve it, if that’s what you’re thinking – you mysoginistic bastard; and it’s not because they’re just much sweeter than man. Actually, the old tale that a woman loses a tooth every time she delivers is not as far from the truth as you’d think. A study published in this month’s […]
It’s natural that when you are stressed out, you tend to search for an explanation for your current situation and to search for answers; too many people have felt this and this is a global issue even without the economy crisis that struck us. But in such times when you feel that your finances are […]
Using the RHESSI spacecraft, scientists managed to calculate the Sun’s roundness with a level of precision that surpasses anything of this type that has been attempted before. They found that the star which the Eart rotates around is not quite a sphere, but it has a thin “cantaloupe skin”. This skin causes the equatorial radius […]
It’s often believed that blondes have more fun, but now, we finally have proof for that; scientists claim that not only does bleaching hair does wonders for your look and self-confidence, but it also makes a women feel more attractive, more daring when it comes to asking someone out, and even more adventurous in […]
This month, two independent teams have announced that they have succesfully converted sugar-potentially derived waste from agriculture and non-food plants into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other chemical substances of high importance. Randy Cortright, a chemical engineer at Virent Energy Systems of Madison, Wisc. announced that carbohydrates and sugars can be processed into a number […]
Our old Sun has broken a milestone that has not happened for almost a hundred years, as an entire month has passed without a single sun spot being noted. This is relevant because many climatologists believe there is a tight connection between solar magnetic activity which is responsable for the sun spots and climate on […]
One of humanity’s fiercest enemies in the modern world is without a doubt this terrible malady, which has caused an endless number of deaths and suffering; while news and developments in treatment appear every day, there is still no safe receipe for curing it. However, if things get bad, there is now a new technique […]
It’s hard to believe that about half of the food produced on our planet is wasted, especially when about a quarter of Earth’s inhabitants are suffering from hunger; this, my friends is the wonderful world we live in. Not a world without resources, but a world in which we do not know how to use […]
It may seem weird, but ear infections don’t attack only your ears, but your weight too. If you get them during your childhood, there’s a big chance you will develop a taste for fat foods, and thus this affinity will probably lead to obesity. Scientists that made this study suggest that this appears because middle […]
Bacteria have sometimes behaviour that can amaze scientists, by its complexity and efficiency. Salmonella can commit suicide and help their “brothers” to establish infections that are more damaging, thus helping their species. But scientists believe they have found the answer to this surprising kamikaze behavior. This phenomenon which is called self-destructive cooperation often helps Salmonella […]
It’s not as if this was a novelty, but now there’s the scientific background to prove it. Actually, this refers more to when children deny something has happened rather than just making things up. Adults to a little better at this one. This research has been made mostly to help in forensic searches, when dealing […]
Every once in a while, you hear about the hardest of problems that have really easy solutions. In numerous cases, cures have been found in most common of substances, or even foods. This time, a study led by researchers at Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland showed that in small concentrations, something as common as […]
The Neanderthal has spakled controversies around scientists for many years, and most questions remain unanswered even today; they had many adaptations to a hard life, such as hort, robust builds, and rather large noses, which show they lived mostly in cold climates. They were almost exclusively carnivorous and top predators and their brains were probably […]
Everybody pondered at least once in their lives the possibility of being immortal, and this idea sparkled in the immagination of many people throughout history. Now, Stuart Kim, a PhD at Stanford and professor of developmental biology and genetics conducted a study that led to results that shocked pretty much everybody involved, contradicting the […]
A few days ago, I wrote about the damage that a well intended, but wrongly conducted mangrove restoration could cause; the article itself was focusing on the Philippines. It is time to underline (again) the importance that they have on ecosystems which rely on them way more than you would probably guess.Just a few days […]
Archaeopteryx has been the subject of many controversies, but it is now widely considered as the world’s oldest bird; however, reptiles were flying for 50 million years when it appeared, even before the world was roamed by dinosaurs. Now, paleontologists have unveiled an extraordinary prehistoric ‘flying’ reptile which lived 235 million years ago.It’s called kuehneosaurs […]
Scientists have believed for years that the moon doesn’t have water, only to find that its interior proved them wrong, challenging our current understanding on how the satellite was formed The current most accepted theory is that it formed in a violent collision between Earth and another planet-sized object.But if this had been the case, […]
It’s not a bird, it’s not a planet, it’s not Jupiter… it’s super earth. Actually, there’s 3 of them. What are they? Well they’re three planets that astrophysicists have found orbiting the same star. They were located with the HARPS instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s 3.6-meter telescope at La Silla, Chile.These Super Earths are […]
We all know (or really should know) the benefic impact a healthy lifestyle has on your body and mind. But according to a study led by U.S. researchers, exercising and having a balanced diet can not just keep you fit, but it can also lead to some swift and dramatic changes at the genetic level.In […]
Ever wake up in the morning and just couldn’t get out of bed? Did you ever have something to do and just didn’t have what it takes to do it? Well, all you lazy people, rejoice! In may not be your fault after all. A simple test could show whether difficulty in defeating your laziness […]
If you think girls like sport cars, bling, and fancy clubs… you’re so last year! Well that’s not really what I think, but it’s what a study conducted by GM as part of this year’s Challenge X competition showed. I’m not really sure how relevant this is, but the results baffled me to be honest […]
A study conducted by researchers at the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health showed that cat ownership probably has a very good effect on young children of ages up to 5 years. The study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. […]
It’s still unclear how sleep deprivation affects us, as there are still so many things scientists have failed to understand about sleep itself. But now, neuroscientists at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore have shown for the first time what happens to the visual perceptions of healthy but sleep-deprived people who struggle […]
