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Generally regarded as a pseudoscientific treatment, acupuncture has proven itself quite effective, at least at alleviating pain.
Organic animal products seem to be significantly healthier than their non-organic counterparts.
A rare kind of aphasia, abbreviated PPA, leaves people at a loss for words. Patients blabber and stutter, seemingly unable to communicate. Often times families think their diseased relatives and loved ones have Alzheimer's. Because primary progressive aphasia is so rare and unknown, even doctors often misdiagnose the disease. Upon closer inspection though, the PPA patient clearly is able to understand questions and reason . It's just they simply can't verbally use words. At a recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, PPA has been put in the center of discussion to raise awareness but also share some of the most promising therapies.
We’ve seen unfortunate insects trapped in amber time and time again, but this time it’s something else. This time, a new species of ancient flower was found preserved in amber. The fossil species are a representative of the asterids, one of the most diverse groups that also include sunflower, coffee, potatoes and mint. Amber is […]
We’ve explored the Earth, we’ve explored the seas, we’ve even started exploring outer space but there’s one place we really haven’t explored that much – and that’s underground. Exploring underground reveals quite some secrets it turns out, as there’s a rich microbe biosphere living deep in our planet. They live a few km beneath the […]
It seems medicine is prepared to enter a new age - an age in which not only can we fix bones, cartilage and muscles, but also create new ones.
Russian scientists have found a way to use the country’s surplus of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to protect themselves from another threat: falling meteorites and asteroids. I’m happy to see that more and more people are starting to look at ways to protect Earth in the case of an incoming asteroid. In January, NASA announced the […]
Our perception does not always reflect reality, as evidenced by numerous studies. The information sent by the eyes to the brain is processed and contains many short-cuts and assumptions which makes things more optimized, but also leads to biases. One study, for instance, found that people who are overweight will judge an object as being farther than it really is. This suggests that physical characteristics -- people who thought they were overweight, but weren't in fact, did not share this bias -- plays a major role in defining perception.
To find its way home to the nest, a wasp will leave its own visual 'breadcrumps'. The wasp will ever so often fly backwards to see its environment as if it were traveling to the nest, and use this information later to make its way safely back.
There are over 5,000 mineral species identified by scientists thus far, but fewer than 100 make up the entire planet's crust. The rest are so rare, short lived and notoriously difficult to replicate that you'd barely know they're here. Not understating the importance of such minerals -- which could offer clues on how the planet formed, but also lead to new industrial applications -- researchers from the United States cataloged the 2,500 rarest minerals on the planet.
Bullying is still prevalent throughout the educational system, both in the real and in the cyber world.
The future is now – a new study found that virtual reality can help alleviate depressive symptoms. The therapy was previously tested on healthy people and showed positive results. Now, the British team tested their idea on 15 depression patients aged 23-61. Nine reported reduced depressive symptoms a month after the therapy, and 4 of them […]
The day has come and passed, but the impact could be felt for a long time; that thrilling date, the memories created and the carbon emissions will linger long after Valentine’s day has passed. According to a survey by the National Retail Federation, 36 percent of Americans (58% men; 16% women) will buy flowers for […]
Creating artificial blood vessels is a pivotal aspect of reconstructive medicine. However, time and time again this has proven very tricky to accomplish. Now, a researcher believes he has found the key: weaving blood vessels with cotton candy machines. Traditionally, researchers would allow cultured cells to spontaneously develop capillary systems of their own. This process can […]
Though technically a metal, the electrons inside graphene behave like a liquid traveling very fast in waves.
Today, some people are freezing their bodies or heads at death in hopes of future cures for what ails them. Alas, these people are likely gone forever because the damage to the brain is far too critical. With this in mind, despite an enthusiastic decade in the '80s for cryonics, the field has been rarely touched by serious scientists. A group of researchers may spark interest again after they report freezing rabbit and pig brains, then returning them from preservation apparently in mint condition as if they were never iced. This lends hope that just maybe it would be possible to do the same for human brains just before the person dies, and thaw it in proper working condition when the tech is there to revive them.
One landmark study suggests that the tundras are shifting their role as a result of climate change turning into carbon sources, with a net positive release of carbon into the atmosphere.
It all started when archaeologists working in Germany made a surprising discovery, uncovering the bodies of children and of one adult man who was buried, strangely, standing upright. The cemetery was dated to 8,500 years, being one of the oldest – if not the oldest – ever found on the continent. The cemetery dates from the […]
Almost 50% of all new wind turbines in 2015 were built in China. Considering that, it’s no surprise that the country has become the biggest producer of wind energy. But China is showing that its determination in greening its economy is real and it’s not slowing down. According to statistics released by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) on […]
She’s been called everything from a pirate to the Robin Hood of science. Alexandra Elbakyan put up a portal that now gives access over 48 million journal articles – the greater part of everything that’s ever been published. Despite a court injunction and a lawsuit from Elsevier, one of the world’s biggest publishers she’s refusing to take it […]
British researchers at the University College London set the record for the fastest data transfer rate: a mind-boggling 1.225 Tbps/second. That's 50,000 faster than the average UK broadband (24 MBs/s) or just fast enough to download the entire Game of Thrones series in HD in just one freaking second.
This polymer can change shape and release tremendous amounts of stored elastic energy relative to its weight simply by being exposed to a temperature change. This in itself isn't exactly new, but the team led by Chemical Engineering Professor Mitch Anthamatten at the University of Rochester innovated by making the polymer react to room temperature -- a first.
While around 97% of active climate change researchers (the most qualified) agree that global warming is real and caused by humans, the same can't be said about the general populace. One study surveyed 1,500 middle school and high school teachers across all 50 states and found only 67 percent agreed that "global warming is caused mostly by human activities," which is strikingly similar to how the average American feels. You'd think school teachers should know better, though.
Wisdom, the 65-year old albatross from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is breaking record after record.
After a century of speculation and tantalizing results, scientists have, for the first time, confirmed the existence of gravitational waves.
It's easy to understand why human societies throughout history were vastly religious. So many things left unexplained, the most annoying of all being our own existence. Consciousness -- a gift and curse at the same time --- had to come to terms with all the overwhelming things life and nature threw at people, so religion was invented to create a more manageable framework. It certainly has its ups and downs. Personally, I'm a firm believer that religion has been largely a driving force for good -- at least if we're to judge common people, ancient or contemporary. One study seems to confirm this hypothesis as it found belief in a super deity promotes cooperation among strangers, something anthropologists believe paramount to the development of civilization as we know it.
The 160-megawatt concentrated-solar already has 100,000 mirrors in place, focusing sunlight to create steam and generate clean energy.
Nature, the Lancet and many other medical publishers and researchers have announced that all Zika-related scientific articles will be published freely in the wake of the recent outbreak. “We announce that Nature journals will make all papers relating to Zika virus free to access until further notice,” a statement reads. “Nature journals will also now encourage […]
Carbon dioxide acts like a greenhouse gas and can heat a planet's atmosphere - nothing new so far. But it can be so potent...
People with very low levels of physical activity may have smaller brains later in life, a new study found.
In one scenario, parts would spiral farther than the moon!
Limericks are a very specific type of poetry that emerged in England in the early years of the 18th century. It was popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th century although curiously, he didn’t coin the term “limerick”, and we don’t know where it came from. Your units are wrong! cried the teacher. Your church weighs […]
Police departments all over the world use tasers to pacify aggressive criminals. The stun gun ejects two wires at high speed that hook to the body of a person and send a 50,000 volt current, stunning the target. It certainly hurts, and the physical damage might take a while to heal. Researchers investigated, however, the psychological and cognitive effects of getting stunned with a taser. Their findings suggest those who get tasered experience short-term cognitive decline to the point of borderline dementia. This can last for a full hour, during which the victim might be unable to understand questioning by police properly and could interfere with their Miranda Rights, the "right to remain silent".
Grass could enable researchers to create the new generation of condoms and make our lives a little bit better. A team from the University of Queensland found a feasible way to extract nanocellulose from the grass and use it as an additive in latex. If you think about it, condoms haven’t changed that much in past […]
Researchers have made a stronger case for the negative effects of paracetamol on pregnant women. It was already documented that prenatal paracetamol consumption is associated with asthma; now, a team has shown that this is not because the underlying condition for which the drug was taken. Paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen and often sold under the […]
American biologists finally understand how these cute fish, measuring little more than an inch can survive in extreme environments. Don’t let their looks deceive you: the Atlantic mollies in southern Mexico are as hardcore as it gets. They can live not only in tropical freshwater, but also in brackish water, and acidic, volcanically influenced springs. Most fish […]
British researchers investigated the long term effects of LSD. It's well documented that LSD may induce a psychosis, and participants involved with the study did indeed score higher on a test meant to gauge the disorder. Weeks after the first hit, however, the participants exhibited increased optimism and trait openness worked mid to long term.
Vaccines are arguably one of the most impactful medical developments ever. According to the CDC, vaccines given to infants and young children over the past two decades will prevent 322 million illnesses, 21 million hospitalizations and 732,000 deaths over the course of their lifetimes. If that's not impressive, a group of researchers put this into another perspective that almost all people seem to appreciate: money. Their findings suggest that though it costs a lot to research new vaccines, manufacture and implement them, the return of investment is absolutely stunning. Pharmaceutical companies make a nice profit, but the bulk goes to society.
A team of researchers performed the most extensive study of howling made by canid species. This includes wolves, jackals and familiar domesticated dogs. The findings suggest that each species and subspecies has its distinct vocal fingerprint, with a specific pitch, fluctuation and timbre.
A new study examined the way gene families evolve from ancestral genes, finding the original genes were promiscuous in that they had a wider range of function than the later descendant genes, which often evolved to be more selective in their effects.
A previous study found that Vikings suffered from massive worm infestations, and this may be the key to an inherited predisposition to emphysema and other lung conditions.
They may have had huge mouths, but they fed on plankton - an international team of researchers has found evidence of two new plankton-eating fossil fish species.
Cockroaches are nasty and annoying, but you've gotta hand it to them - if there's something they're really good at, it's surviving.
Purple Non Sulfur Bacteria may play a role in reducing the amount of methyl-mercury in the oceans by converting it to a less harmful form.Sincerely,
New models show that 2 million years ago, early humans couldn’t have survived on a diet based on nuts and other hard foods. In 2012, a study garnered international attention when it claimed that early human ancestors survived on a diet of hard foods mixed in with tree bark, fruit, leaves and other plant products. But […]
In the wake of calamities like hurricanes or tornadoes, you'll find trees leveled to the ground. But observations suggest that all trees seem to break at the same wind speed, with parameters like the type of tree, height or diameter barely affecting the outcome.
A new study analyzes how much Arctic ice can melt before its grounded portion also starts sliding into the ocean.
A period of significant cooling from 536 to 660 AD brought forth massive societal changes in Europe and Asia, a new study found. The cooling, caused by volcanic activity, coincided with a massive plague, the decline of the Byzantine Empire and the spread of Slavic and Arabic people. It is well known that volcanic activity can […]
Sighing is a fundamental biological reflex that's a lot more important than most people care to think. We don't just sigh when we're in a position of weariness or relief, but quite regularly for no particular reason -- about 12 times an hour.
The transplant community has established a new committee to address the recent Zika virus outbreak, and protect organ transplant patients from the potential dangers of the virus.
