Novel mechanism for long-term learning identified by Carnegie Mellon researchers
Jan 03, 2008 |
4.4 / 5 (65) |
1
Practice makes perfect — or at least that’s what we’re told as we struggle through endless rounds of multiplication tables, goal kicks and piano scales — and it seems, based on the personal experience of many, to be true. ...
Life at the jolt: New insights into fuel cell that uses bacteria to generate electricity
Biology /
Jan 03, 2008 |
4.4 / 5 (37) |
1
Researchers at the Biodesign Institute are using the tiniest organisms on the planet 'bacteria' as a viable option to make electricity. In a new study featured in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering, lead a ...
Insect attack may have finished off dinosaurs
Biology /
Jan 03, 2008 |
4.4 / 5 (33) |
3
Asteroid impacts or massive volcanic flows might have occurred around the time dinosaurs became extinct, but a new book argues that the mightiest creatures the world has ever known may have been brought down by a tiny, much ...
A crystal that nature may have missed
Jan 03, 2008 |
4 / 5 (32) |
2
For centuries, human beings have been entranced by the captivating glimmer of the diamond. What accounts for the stunning beauty of this most precious gem? As mathematician Toshikazu Sunada explains in an ...
2 explosive evolutionary events shaped early history of multicellular life
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Jan 03, 2008 |
4.4 / 5 (29) |
0
Scientists have known for some time that most major groups of complex animals appeared in the fossils record during the Cambrian Explosion, a seemingly rapid evolutionary event that occurred 542 million years ...
Strange-behaving crystals could have impact on research, technology
Jan 03, 2008 |
4.3 / 5 (25) |
2
Aperiodic, rule-bending crystals are the focus of an article that appears in the Jan. 4 issue of the journal Science. Co-authors looked at how these aperiodic crystals behave differently from "normal" periodic crystals. These ...
Smithsonian scientists highlight environmental impacts of biofuels
Jan 03, 2008 |
4.3 / 5 (23) |
8
Biofuels reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in comparison to fossil fuels. In the Jan. 4 issue of the journal Science, Smithsonian researchers highlight a new study that factors in environmental costs of biofuel production. ...
U of M physicist reads the history of the solar system in grains of comet dust
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jan 03, 2008 |
3.9 / 5 (18) |
3
Four years ago, NASA's Stardust spacecraft chased down a comet and collected grains of dust blowing off its nucleus. When the spacecraft Comet Wild-2 returned, comet dust was shipped to scientists all over ...
Novel anticancer strategy moves from laboratory to clinic
Jan 03, 2008 |
4.8 / 5 (14) |
0
Researchers at Emory University have developed a novel anti-tumor compound that represents a distinct strategy: targeting one of the most important "intercept points" for cancer cells.
Plate tectonics may take a break
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jan 03, 2008 |
4.7 / 5 (14) |
2
Plate tectonics, the geologic process responsible for creating the Earth’s continents, mountain ranges, and ocean basins, may be an on-again, off-again affair. Scientists have assumed that the shifting of crustal plates has ...
Red dust in planet-forming disk may harbor precursors to life
Jan 03, 2008 |
4.4 / 5 (12) |
0
Astronomers at the Carnegie Institution have found the first indications of highly complex organic molecules in the disk of red dust surrounding a distant star. The eight-million-year-old star, known as HR ...
Why some depressed girls can't smell the roses
Jan 03, 2008 |
3.8 / 5 (14) |
0
Can’t smell the roses? Maybe you’re depressed. Smell too much like a rose yourself? Maybe you’ve got the same problem. Scientists from Tel Aviv University recently linked depression to a biological mechanism that affects ...
Scientists discover remarkable editing system for protein production
Jan 03, 2008 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
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Even small mistakes made by cells during protein production can have profound disease effects, but the processes cells use to correct mistakes have been challenging to decipher. Recent work by scientists at The Scripps Research ...
US presidential candidates and their views on scientific issues
Jan 03, 2008 |
3.6 / 5 (13) |
3
What are the United States presidential candidates’ positions on scientific topics ranging from evolution to global warming? A special news report, which is being published in the 4 January issue of the journal Science, addres ...
Bright light therapy eases bipolar depression for some
Jan 03, 2008 |
4.6 / 5 (10) |
0
Bright light therapy can ease bipolar depression in some patients, according to a study published in the journal Bipolar Disorders. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s Western Psychiatric Instit ...
