ScienceDaily: Top Science News |
- New study takes the shine off magpie folklore
- Do gut bacteria rule our minds? In an ecosystem within us, microbes evolved to sway food choices
- Brain imaging shows brain differences in risk-taking teens
- Bats bolster brain hypothesis, maybe technology, too
- Human contribution to glacier mass loss increasing
- Harnessing the power of bacteria's sophisticated immune system
- New analysis links tree height to climate
- Bypass commands from brain to legs through computer
- Inside the cell, an ocean of buffeting waves, contrary to conventional understanding
| New study takes the shine off magpie folklore Posted: 15 Aug 2014 04:59 PM PDT Magpies are not attracted to shiny objects and don't routinely steal small trinkets such as jewelry, according to a new study. In European culture, it is widely accepted that magpies (Pica pica) are the pilferers of the bird kingdom, unconditionally attracted to sparkly things and prone to pinching them for their nests, almost as a compulsion. |
| Do gut bacteria rule our minds? In an ecosystem within us, microbes evolved to sway food choices Posted: 15 Aug 2014 04:22 PM PDT It sounds like science fiction, but it seems that bacteria within us — which outnumber our own cells about 100-fold — may very well be affecting both our cravings and moods to get us to eat what they want, and often are driving us toward obesity. |
| Brain imaging shows brain differences in risk-taking teens Posted: 15 Aug 2014 07:23 AM PDT Brain differences associated with risk-taking teens have been investigated by researchers who found that connections between certain brain regions are amplified in teens more prone to risk. "Our brains have an emotional-regulation network that exists to govern emotions and influence decision-making," explained the study's lead author. "Antisocial or risk-seeking behavior may be associated with an imbalance in this network." |
| Bats bolster brain hypothesis, maybe technology, too Posted: 15 Aug 2014 07:23 AM PDT Bats demonstrate remarkable skill in tracking targets such as bugs through the trees in the dark of night. Decades of research on how bats use echolocation to keep a focus on their targets not only lends support to a long debated neuroscience hypothesis about vision but also could lead to smarter sonar and radar technologies. |
| Human contribution to glacier mass loss increasing Posted: 14 Aug 2014 04:18 PM PDT By combining climate and glacier models, scientists have found unambiguous evidence for anthropogenic glacier mass loss in recent decades. The researchers report that about one quarter of the global glacier mass loss during the period of 1851 to 2010 is attributable to anthropogenic causes. The fraction of human contribution increased steadily and accelerated to almost two thirds between 1991 and 2010. |
| Harnessing the power of bacteria's sophisticated immune system Posted: 14 Aug 2014 04:13 PM PDT Bacteria's ability to destroy viruses has long puzzled scientists, but researchers say they now have a clear picture of the bacterial immune system and say its unique shape is likely why bacteria can so quickly recognize and destroy their assailants. The findings provide clues about the spread of antibiotic resistance, which occurs when bacteria adapt to the point where antibiotics no longer work in people who need them to treat infections. |
| New analysis links tree height to climate Posted: 14 Aug 2014 04:13 PM PDT What limits the height of trees? Is it the fraction of their photosynthetic energy they devote to productive new leaves? Or is it their ability to hoist water hundreds of feet into the air, supplying the green, solar-powered sugar factories in those leaves? A new paper attempts to resolve a debate as to which factors actually set maximum tree height, and how their relative importance varies in different parts of the world. |
| Bypass commands from brain to legs through computer Posted: 14 Aug 2014 09:45 AM PDT Gait disturbance in individuals with spinal cord injury is attributed to the interruption of neural pathways from brain to the spinal locomotor center, whereas neural circuits locate below and above the lesion maintain most of their functions. An artificial connection that bridges the lost pathway and connects brain to spinal circuits has potential to ameliorate the functional loss. A research team has successfully made an artificial connection from the brain to the locomotion center in the spinal cord by bypassing with a computer and exercised control over walking. |
| Inside the cell, an ocean of buffeting waves, contrary to conventional understanding Posted: 14 Aug 2014 09:38 AM PDT Conventional wisdom holds that the cytoplasm of mammalian cells is a viscous fluid, with organelles and proteins suspended within it, jiggling against one another and drifting at random. However, a new biophysical study challenges this model and reveals that those drifting objects are subject to a very different type of environment. The cytoplasm is actually an elastic gel, it turns out, so it puts up some resistance to simple diffusion, researchers report. |
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