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Thursday, August 28, 2014

ScienceDaily: Most Popular News

ScienceDaily: Most Popular News


Do we live in a 2-D hologram? Experiment will test the nature of the universe

Posted: 26 Aug 2014 09:10 AM PDT

A unique experiment called the Holometer has started collecting data that will answer some mind-bending questions about our universe -- including whether we live in a hologram.

A long childhood feeds the hungry human brain

Posted: 25 Aug 2014 12:25 PM PDT

The long-standing mystery of why human children grow so slowly compared with our closest animal relatives has been addressed by new research. A study has shown that energy funneled to the brain dominates the human body's metabolism early in life and is likely the reason why humans grow at a pace more typical of a reptile than a mammal during childhood.

Gut bacteria that protect against food allergies identified

Posted: 25 Aug 2014 12:20 PM PDT

The presence of Clostridia, a common class of gut bacteria, protects against food allergies, a new study in mice finds. The discovery points toward probiotic therapies for this so-far untreatable condition. Food allergies affect 15 million Americans, including one in 13 children, who live with this potentially life-threatening disease that currently has no cure, researchers note.

Zombie ant fungi 'know' brains of their hosts

Posted: 25 Aug 2014 11:21 AM PDT

A parasitic fungus that reproduces by manipulating the behavior of ants emits a cocktail of behavior-controlling chemicals when encountering the brain of its natural target host, but not when infecting other ant species, a new study shows. The findings, which suggest that the fungus "knows" its preferred host, provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, according to researchers.

Natural methane seepage on U.S. Atlantic ocean margin widespread

Posted: 25 Aug 2014 11:14 AM PDT

Natural methane leakage from the seafloor is far more widespread on the U.S. Atlantic margin than previously thought, according to a study by researchers from Mississippi State University, the U.S. Geological Survey, and other institutions.

Changes in eye can predict changes in brain

Posted: 25 Aug 2014 07:00 AM PDT

A loss of cells in the retina is one of the earliest signs of frontotemporal dementia in people with a genetic risk for the disorder -- even before any changes appear in their behavior -- scientists have found. Although it is located in the eye, the retina is made up of neurons with direct connections to the brain. This means that studying the retina is one of the easiest and most accessible ways to examine and track changes in neurons.

Simply complex: The origin of our body axes

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 12:22 PM PDT

One fundamental question in biology is what constitutes the basic type of the animal body plan and how did all the more complex forms, including that of humans, evolve from it. At the simplest level, this body plan can be described by the three axes. These three axes -- the familiar X, Y and Z axes from geometry -- are the anterior-posterior axis, which determines the position of the mouth in front and the anus at the rear, the dorsal-ventral axis, which in vertebrates separates the front of the body from the back, and the left-right axis, which creates a mirror-like symmetry of our extremities and left-right asymmetry of the organs.

Hacking Gmail with 92 percent success

Posted: 21 Aug 2014 09:48 AM PDT

Computer scientists have identified a weakness believed to exist in Android, Windows and iOS mobile operating systems that could be used to obtain personal information from unsuspecting users. They demonstrated the hack in an Android phone.

Your toothpaste's fluorine formed in the stars

Posted: 21 Aug 2014 07:23 AM PDT

The fluorine that is found in products such as toothpaste was likely formed billions of years ago in now-dead stars of the same type as our sun, according to new research by astronomers.

Burning Incense Is Psychoactive: New Class Of Antidepressants Might Be Right Under Our Noses

Posted: 20 May 2008 08:04 AM PDT

Burning frankincense (resin from the Boswellia plant) activates poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety or depression. This suggests that an entirely new class of depression and anxiety drugs might be right under our noses.

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