We make snap judgments of others based not only on their facial appearance, but also on our pre-existing beliefs about how others’ personalities work, finds a new study by a team of psychology researchers. Its work, reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, underscores how we interpret others’ facial features to … Read more
A new genetic analysis of invasive pythons captured across South Florida finds the big constrictors are closely related to one another. In fact, most of them are genetically related as first or second cousins, according to a study by wildlife genetics experts at the U.S. Geological Survey. The study also found that at least a … Read more
First, according to Rice University engineers, get a nanotube hole. Then insert water. If the nanotube is just the right width, the water molecules will align into a square rod. Rice materials scientist Rouzbeh Shahsavari and his team used molecular models to demonstrate their theory that weak van der Waals forces between the inner surface … Read more
A self-healing membrane that acts as a reverse filter, blocking small particles and letting large ones through, is the “straight out of science fiction” work of a team of Penn State mechanical engineers. “Conventional filters, like those used to make coffee, allow small objects to pass through while keeping larger objects contained,” said Birgitt Boschitsch, … Read more
A new material developed by University of Colorado Boulder engineers can transform into complex, pre-programmed shapes via light and temperature stimuli, allowing a literal square peg to morph and fit into a round hole before fully reverting to its original form. The controllable shape-shifting material, described today in the journal Science Advances, could have broad … Read more
Columbia University biomedical researchers have captured close-up views of TRPV3, a skin-cell ion channel that plays important roles in sensing temperature, itch, and pain. In humans, defects in the protein can lead to skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis (a type of eczema), vitiligo (uneven skin coloration), skin cancer, and rosacea. All vertebrate DNA, including … Read more
A new scientific study concludes there is no safe level of drinking alcohol. The study, published today in the international medical journal The Lancet, shows that in 2016, nearly 3 million deaths globally were attributed to alcohol use, including 12 percent of deaths in males between the ages of 15 and 49. “The health risks … Read more
It has long been assumed that the content of dreams can tell us something about the person’s well-being. However, so far dream researchers have mostly studied the dreams of people suffering from various disorders and we know very little about the positive side of well-being: do happier people have happier dreams? Well-being researchers, on the … Read more
A pioneering Oxford University research collaboration into yellow fever virus (YFV) has shed new light on the exceptional recent outbreak in Brazil and how the virus spreads. The findings have implications for monitoring viral transmission and could potentially contribute to a strategy for eliminating YFV worldwide. Published in Science, the international collaboration coordinated by scientists … Read more
After their recent pioneering experiments to couple light and matter to an extreme degree, Rice University scientists decided to look for a similar effect in matter alone. They didn’t expect to find it so soon. Rice physicist Junichiro Kono, graduate student Xinwei Li and their international colleagues have discovered the first example of Dicke cooperativity … Read more
An international team of researchers discovered a new species of dinosaur, Xiyunykus pengi, during an expedition to Xinjiang, China. The discovery is the latest stemming from a partnership between the George Washington University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The findings were published today in Current Biology along with the description of a second new … Read more
Researchers from Virginia Tech and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have developed a novel way to 3D print complex objects of one of the highest-performing materials used in the battery and aerospace industries. Previously, researchers could only print this material, known as graphene, in 2D sheets or basic structures. But Virginia Tech engineers have now collaborated … Read more
In a new study, researchers at Uppsala University now demonstrate that one night of sleep loss has a tissue-specific impact on the regulation of gene expression and metabolism in humans. This may explain how shift work and chronic sleep loss impairs our metabolism and adversely affects our body composition. The study is published in the … Read more
By sequencing the genome of the yellow-banded bumblebee, York University researchers have found that inbreeding and disease are likely culprits in their rapid decline in North America. This is believed to be the first time the genome of an at-risk bumblebee has been sequenced and it allows researchers to take a deeper look into the … Read more
One of the rarest birds in the western hemisphere, the Bahama Nuthatch, has been rediscovered by research teams searching the island of Grand Bahama. The finding is particularly significant because the species had been feared extinct following the catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and had not been found in subsequent searches. But … Read more
The word Sargassum conjures up images of a vast floating island off the coast of Bermuda, the mystical Sargasso Sea that has fascinated and inspired sailors’ tales for hundreds of years. Sargassum is actually a floating seaweed that drifts on ocean currents in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico. It is unusual because … Read more
An international team of researchers has uncovered a destructive mechanism at the molecular level that causes a well-known phenomenon associated with obesity, called leptin resistance. They found that mice fed a high-fat diet produce an enzyme named MMP-2 that clips receptors for the hormone leptin from the surface of neuronal cells in the hypothalamus. This … Read more
Parrots — highly intelligent and highly verbal — may also ruffle their head feathers and blush to communicate visually, according to a new study published August 22 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Aline Bertin of the INRA Centre Val de Loire, France and colleagues. The study extends the understanding of the complex social … Read more
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. “If the birds can expect a larger profit in the future, they foregoe their desire for immediate reward.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 22 August 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180822141018.htm>. Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. (2018, August 22). If the birds can expect a larger profit in the future, they foregoe their desire for immediate reward. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 22, 2018 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180822141018.htm Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. … Read more
Despite plants and vegetation being key to the Earth’s ecosystem, little is known about the origin of their roots. However in new research, published in Nature, Oxford University scientists describe a transitional root fossils from the earliest land ecosystem that sheds light on how roots have evolved. The findings suggest that plant roots have evolved … Read more