Smart objects in the home have been well publicized, from prototype to product stage. We hardly register surprise at the thought of doors that open and close and lights that turn on and off all on their own.
Periodic mass extinctions on Earth, as indicated in the global fossil record, could be linked to a suspected ninth planet, according to research published by a faculty member of the University of Arkansas Department of Mathematical ...
From the transforming discovery of penicillin to the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics, science progressed with mind-boggling speed even before there were computers. Much of this is down to the robustness of the ...
We live in a dramatic epoch of astrophysics. Breakthrough discoveries like exoplanets, gravitational waves from merging black holes, or cosmic acceleration seem to arrive every decade, or even more often. But perhaps no discovery ...
The first largescale study of ancient DNA from early American people has confirmed the devastating impact of European colonisation on the Indigenous American populations of the time.
Scientists have used data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the NSF's Jansky Very Large Array to determine the likely trigger for the most recent supernova in the Milky Way. They applied a new technique that could ...
(Phys.org)—A team of Japanese researchers (and one from the U.K.) has found evidence in the remains of ancient Japanese people that suggests that people are not necessarily predisposed to living a violent existence or even ...
Two astronomers at Columbia University in New York suggest humanity could use lasers to conceal the Earth from searches by advanced extraterrestrial civilisations. Professor David Kipping and graduate student Alex Teachey ...
The fate of humanity if aliens were to discover Earth with its balmy climate and bountiful resources, has long been a concern for scientists—many of whom fear the worst.
A new study from climate scientists Robert DeConto at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and David Pollard at Pennsylvania State University suggests that the most recent estimates by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ...
A trio of researchers, two with the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and the other with Universität Kiel has discovered something very unique—a white dwarf with an atmosphere that is made almost completely of oxygen. ...
The Cassini spacecraft has observed geysers erupting on Saturn's moon Enceladus since 2005, but the process that drives and sustains these eruptions has remained a mystery. Now, scientists at the University of Chicago and ...
New research has found that wind carved massive mounds of more than a mile high on Mars over billions of years. Their location helps pin down when water on the Red Planet dried up during a global climate change event.
Following the discovery of gravitational waves from the merging of two black holes, ESA's INTEGRAL satellite has revealed no simultaneous gamma rays, just as models predict.
Only one industry is allowed to inject toxic chemicals into underground sources of drinking water – hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." Concerns about this practice have riled the U.S. political landscape and communities ...
A team of researchers working at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has announced the finding of a triple-star system—one that also as has a stable orbit planet in it. In their paper published in The Astronomical ...
Star formation is taking place all around us. The Milky Way is laced with clouds of dust and gas that could become the nursery of the next generation of stars. Thanks to ESA's Herschel space observatory, we can now look inside ...
The extraordinary legal fight pitting the Obama administration against technology giant Apple Inc. ended unexpectedly after the FBI said it used a mysterious method without Apple's help to hack into a California mass shooter's ...
Rice University scientists have determined that two-dimensional boron is a natural low-temperature superconductor. In fact, it may be the only 2-D material with such potential.
A long-extinct animal known as the Siberian unicorn—which was actually a long-horned rhinoceros—may have walked the Earth 29,000 years ago, at the same time as prehistoric humans, researchers say.
In the race against world hunger, we're running out of time. By 2050, the global population will have grown and urbanized so much that we will need to produce 87 percent more of the four primary food crops - rice, wheat, ...
A new study by researchers from Denmark and Canada's York University, published in Geophysical Research Letters, has found that the climate models commonly used to simulate melting of the Greenland ice sheet tend to underestimate ...
The search for radio signals from alien worlds is expanding to 20,000 star systems that were previously considered poor targets for intelligent extraterrestrial life, US researchers said Wednesday.
Windows and solar panels in the future could be made from one of the best—and cheapest—construction materials known: wood. Researchers at Stockholm's KTH Royal Institute of Technology have developed a new transparent ...
Scientists from the University of Liverpool have developed computer models of the bodies of sauropod dinosaurs to examine the evolution of their body shape.
The Earth's magnetic field permanently protects us from the charged particles and radiation that originate in the sun. This shield is produced by the geodynamo, the rapid motion of huge quantities of liquid iron alloy in ...
Arctic sea ice appears to have reached a record low wintertime maximum extent for the second year in a row, according to scientists at the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and NASA.
The Alaska education department said Friday that it was canceling its computer-based statewide student assessments amid Internet problems at the University of Kansas where the test developer is based.
The Italian premier was in Nevada on Tuesday to attend the formal dedication of the only geothermal power plant in the world that combines geothermal energy with two kinds of solar technology.
The operator of Japan's destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant switched on a giant refrigeration system on Thursday to create an unprecedented underground ice wall around its damaged reactors. Radioactive water has been flowing ...
Japanese regulators on Wednesday approved the use of a giant refrigeration system to create an unprecedented underground frozen barrier around buildings at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant in an attempt to contain leaking ...
If you had the opportunity to vote for a politician you totally trusted, who you were sure had no hidden agendas and who would truly represent the electorate's views, you would, right?
The fight over encryption isn't going away just because the FBI has figured out a way to glean the data off the iPhone used by a San Bernardino attacker.
Conservatives and liberals know there is a chasm between their policy and social ideals. But a new study shows that their differences may be psychologically fundamental.
In February, the LIGO Scientific Collaboration announced it had detected gravitational waves for the first time, confirming the last prediction of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Somewhat overlooked in the excitement ...
Whether fair weather or foul, sustainable energy supply must be independent of natural fluctuations of renewable energy sources, such as sunshine. The coupling of "green" energy sources with reliable energy storage systems ...
Medical experts in Newcastle, UK, say that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are still being diagnosed later than they should be, meaning they are not getting access to specialist services early enough.
New findings from large-scale studies of more than 3.6 million people who underwent screening for cardiovascular disease reveals that a person's age and gender affects the prevalence of certain types of peripheral vascular ...
More walkable neighborhoods, parks and public transit could all reduce your chance of becoming one of the 600 million adults who battle obesity worldwide, according to researchers at University of California, San Diego School ...
When athletes gets their bell rung on the field or court, there's often tension between their desire to keep playing and a trainer's responsibility to prevent them from further harming themselves. The problem with standard ...
A study of over 6,000 mothers and their newborn children—one of the largest studies of its kind—solidifies the evidence that smoking cigarettes while pregnant chemically modifies a fetus' DNA, mirroring patterns seen ...
(HealthDay)—Scientists have created a compact machine that can churn out thousands of doses of prescription medication in a day—putting the capabilities of a drug-manufacturing plant into a device the size of a kitchen ...
MedUni Vienna has made a crucial development in the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis (MS): Together with his team and the research group led by Gernot Schabbauer, international partners from Australia, Germany and Sweden, ...
Genes are not destiny in determining whether a person will suffer from depression, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. Environment is a major factor, and nurture can override nature.
The annual economic cost of the nearly 16,000 premature births linked to air pollution in the United States has reached $4.33 billion, according to a report by scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center. The sum includes $760 ...
A new national research network was launched today to transform the health outcomes of individuals with diabetes and its related complications. It will be led by two of Canada's top researchers in the field and includes researchers ...
(Medical Xpress)—In dynamic neuronal networks, pervasive oscillatory activity is usually explained by pointing to pacemaking elements that synchronize and drive the network. Recently, however, scientists at The Weizmann ...
(HealthDay)—A study of nearly a half-million people with type 2 diabetes shows there are pros and cons to nearly every form of drug therapy for the disease.
The diabetes drug pioglitazone is associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer, finds a study published by The BMJ today. The findings suggest that the risk increases with increasing duration of use and dose.
Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Schepens Eye Research Institute have shown an association between a defective myogenic response—the regulatory increase or decrease in blood pressure to keep blood flow within ...
The World Health Organization estimates that of the 500 million people worldwide thought to have diabetes, 90 percent have type 2 diabetes and the number diagnosed with diabetes by 2020 will increase dramatically. As the ...
(HealthDay)—A minimally invasive surgery to treat chronic heartburn is safer than generally believed, and could be a desirable alternative to long-term use of acid reflux medications, new research indicates.
The cancer treatment drug Imatinib, otherwise known as Gleevec is approved to treat various forms of cancer, mostly notably chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). However, researchers have stumbled onto another possible use for ...
The same technology used by forensic investigators to capture fingerprints also can help doctors predict whether patients might be at risk for developing diabetes, a new study finds.
Researchers have identified a common variant in a non-coding RNA that may contribute to the intestinal inflammation that occurs in people with celiac disease. The findings point to a possible new risk factor for developing ...
The genomes of two distinct strains of the virus that causes the common lip cold sore, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), have been identified within an individual person—an achievement that could be useful to forensic ...
Researchers at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan have found that a deep-brain structure called the habenula contains two neural circuits that work in a complex interplay to influence whether a fight will be a win ...
A team led by Purdue University researchers is the first to determine the structure of the Zika virus, which reveals insights critical to the development of effective antiviral treatments and vaccines.
Even after successful treatment, cancer can sometimes come back years later and spread to different organs. This is called latent metastasis. A new study by MSK scientists sheds light on how cancer cells hide out and remain ...
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Japan's space agency says communication has failed with a newly launched, innovative satellite with X-ray telescopes meant to study black holes and other space mysteries.
Europe imports more than half of the energy that it consumes, and its supply is vulnerable to regional instability and economic shocks. In a major new book, Professor Rafael Leal-Arcas, shows how the creation of a European ...
(Phys.org)—A team of scientists at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia has announced the development of a nanostructure material made of what they are calling nanocones—it is a type of nanomaterial that ...
Rice is a staple food for more than 3.5 billion people worldwide. Meeting the demand for high-yielding rice is an urgent task for breeders. Superior, high-yielding hybrid plants are often produced by crossing two diverse ...
Splitting water into its hydrogen and oxygen parts may sound like science fiction, but it's the end goal of chemists and chemical engineers like Christopher Murray of the University of Pennsylvania and Matteo Cargnello of ...
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has lost contact with its X-ray Astronomy Satellite Hitomi (ASTRO-H.) Hitomi was launched on February 17th, for a 3-year mission to study black holes. But now that mission ...
Light of a certain wavelength can be used to put so-called active materials into motion and control their movement. In the future, this discovery can become significant in widely different areas such as environmental protection, ...
The FBI's announcement that it mysteriously hacked into an iPhone is a public setback for Apple Inc., as consumers suddenly discover they can't keep their most personal information safe. Meanwhile, Apple remains in the dark ...
Planet earth runs on light energy. Light energy from the sun powers photosynthetic processes in plants and different wavelengths of light cue these plants to flower, move their leaves, and grow taller. These same cues influence ...
Global efforts to protect the planet will fail unless we take concepts like equality and wellbeing into account, according to a new paper published today in the journal Science.
In 1665 Christiaan Huygens discovered that two pendulum clocks, hung from the same wooden structure, will always oscillate in synchronicity. Today, some 350 years on, Eindhoven and Mexican researchers present the most accurate ...
While drinking your favourite cold drink, you probably do not imagine what is going on inside each ice cube. At the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), the Theory of Quantum Matter Unit, ...
A new hybrid molecule developed in the lab at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering shows promise for treating breast cancer by serving as a "shipping container" for cytotoxic—or cell-destroying—chemotherapeutic agents. ...
Some mental illnesses may stem, in part, from the brain's inability to correctly assign emotional associations to events. For example, people who are depressed often do not feel happy even when experiencing something that ...
Scientists have long known that the protein tau is involved in dementia, but how it hinders cognitive function has remained uncertain. In a study published in the journal Neuron, researchers at the Gladstone Institutes reveal ...
Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital show how brain connections, or synapses, are lost early in Alzheimer's disease and demonstrate that the process starts—and could potentially be halted—before telltale plaques ...
(HealthDay)—There is a large variation in how often U.S. pediatricians diagnose and prescribe drugs for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other mental health conditions, a new study suggests.
What happens when you rest a chopped ping pong ball on your finger and look at it from above? Experimental psychologists from KU Leuven, Belgium, have shown that our visual system fills in the bottom part of the ball, even ...
Older Americans are increasingly active, and this lifestyle shift has contributed to the rise in average age of a person experiencing a spinal cord injury. The changing demographic calls for a better understanding of how ...
Every cell in the body has two genomes, one from the mother and one from the father. Until now, researchers have lacked the tools to examine—in a single cell —the exact readout from each genome to make RNA. Using a new ...
Cancer cells are defined by their ability for uncontrolled growth, one cell quickly becoming two becoming many. "It's a fascinating process," said Gary Patti, PhD, associate professor of chemistry at Washington University ...
Scientists at the UNC School of Medicine have found a class of commonly used fungicides that produce gene expression changes similar to those in people with autism and neurodegenerative conditions, including Alzheimer's disease ...
In the winter of 1944, the western Netherlands faced a famine of epic proportions. A Nazi blockade had stopped all food or fuel from entering the region, forcing residents to eat whatever they could scrounge up—sometimes ...
One the most intriguing physics discoveries of the last century was the existence of antimatter, material that exists as the "mirror image" of subatomic particles of matter, such as electrons, protons and quarks, but with ...
Scientists at the UCLA Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research have discovered that a protein produced by a cancer gene leads to the development of a deadly, late-stage form of prostate ...
Monetary rewards for healthy behavior can pay off both in the pocketbook and in positive psychological factors like internal motivation, according to a new University of Colorado Boulder study.
A new study from UMass Medical School found that universal suicide risk screening in emergency departments nearly doubled the number of patients who were positively identified as thinking about or having attempted suicide. ...
Researchers from the AMC, VU University Amsterdam and Radboud University have discovered four genes that play a role in the use of cannabis. An article about their findings, co-written by colleagues from the USA and Europe, ...
Like an endlessly repeating video loop, horrible memories and thoughts can keep playing over and over in the minds of people with post-traumatic stress disorder. They intrude at the quietest moments, and don't seem to have ...
You might think the only people who wind up in a hospital's intensive care unit (ICU) are at the brink of death and in dire need of specialized care. ICUs are designed to look after patients who need ventilators, medications ...
There can be no more heartbreaking diagnosis for a child than that of cancer. It doesn't seem possible—or fair—that someone so young can be afflicted with a disease we often associate with aging.
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that causes seizures of many different types. Recent research from Japan has found that epileptic seizures can be more easily predicted by using an electrocardiogram to measure fluctuations ...
Imagine a room or a landscape or a city street. Part of what differentiates that scene from a face or an object is the fact that it has boundaries, and University of Pennsylvania researchers Joshua Julian, Russell Epstein, ...