Widely accepted theories of dark matter, a mysterious invisible substance that can only be detected indirectly by the gravitational force it exerts, expect the solar neighborhood to be filled with the stuff – but it isn’t, at least as far as can be detected. This extra ingredient in the cosmos was originally suggested to explain…
A new survey finds that a majority of Americans believe that weather in the United States is getting worse, and they are linking it to global warming.
At a time when obesity has become epidemic in American society, Dartmouth scientists have found that functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans may be able to predict weight gain. In a study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, the researchers demonstrated a connection between fMRI brain responses to appetite-driven cues and future behavior. “This…
As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, however, the experience of being moved by art seems universal. A new neurological study offers some insight into this aesthetic paradox. The results indicate that connecting deeply to a work of art activates the same part of everyone’s brain. However, part of the brain…
An incoming asteroid may benefit microbes living deep underground, according to a recent study of an ancient impact in the United States’ Chesapeake Bay. A biological census of the subsurface life forms suggests that impacts create new niches for these deep dwellers to spread into. In the last couple of decades, biologists have come to…
In a study that pushed quantum mechanical theory and research capabilities to the limit, UA researchers have found a way to see the molecule that likely made the universe – or at least the hot and fiery bits of it. Lurking in the vast, chilly regions between stars, the unassuming molecule known as a triatomic…
Scores of animal scientists employed by public universities have helped pharmaceutical companies persuade farmers and ranchers to use antibiotics, hormones, and drugs to make their cattle grow bigger ever faster. With the use of these products, the average weight of a fattened steer sold to a packing plant is now roughly 1,300 pounds—up from 1,000…
Orangutans show remarkably advanced engineering skills when making nests, said researchers following and filming the apes in the forests of Sumatra. The study, published in the journal PNAS, reveals that the apes select thick branches for a scaffold and thinner branches for a springy mattress. Roland Ennos from the University of Manchester, a senior member…
The pesky reality that the universe’s expansion is accelerating — an observation that prompted astronomers to invoke an unknown entity called dark energy to explain it — has been further confirmed by new measurements. Scientists have used cosmic magnifying glasses called gravitational lenses to observe super-bright distant galaxies, giving a measure of how quickly the…
Despite government efforts to ban unapproved stem cell treatments, companies around China still offer them openly.