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Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers have taken what they describe as “the first step toward a pill that can replace the treadmill” for the control of obesity – they have developed a pill which can turn white (bad) fat into brown (good) fat. Personally, I’m not a believer in a magic cure for qetting […]
Vikings are often depicted as brutes – raiding, pillaging, killing the men and raping the women. But according to a new study, coloniozing may have actually been a family affair. Maternal DNA from ancient Norsemen suggests that more often than not, women also traveled alongside the men. Vikings were excellent seafarers – this was the key […]
Marilyn Monroe once said that if you give a woman the right shoes, she can conquer the world; that may be a bit of a stretch, but a new study published in a Springer journal has shown that if a woman wants attention or help from a man, high heels definitely go a long way. […]
Hundreds of millions of people all over the world are medically blind, while many more are in the process of turning blind. In most cases, eyesight degeneration can be avoided or hampered if a diagnosis is timely made, but for people living in remote, poor areas of the globe, visiting an ophthalmologist is not possible. The Portable […]
Malaria is one of the most common and dangerous diseases in the world, with the World Health Organization estimating over 200 million cases every year. There are several ways to try to treat malaria, but the results are debatable and often times not as effective as desired. Now, a team has demonstrated a new compound […]
Just one week of camping in the wild (or in any area without man-made light) can reset your body clock and return your natural sleep patterns, a new study has found. If you’re a night owl, if you’re having problems sleeping and just can’t set up a good sleep pattern – science has your problems […]
The human body is a complex biological machine, where each part of the system works in tandem, from cells to whole organs, to keep us alive. When something in the system goes astray or downright haywire, disease creeps in. I’m not going to go into biological details on how the human body works – there […]
Butcher shops are very traditional – they’ve been around for ages, and they’re probably the best place to get quality, cheap meat. But meat consumption is also cruel and not environmentally friendly, and I’m very happy to see more and more vegetarian establishments across the world. Such is the case with this Vegan Butcher shop […]
People who chronically abuse marijuana may be able to quit by replenishing the supply of a molecule that normally activates cannabinoid receptors in the brain, thus reducing anxiety and relieving mood. A truly natural high In the 1980s and 90s, researchers identified cannabinoid receptors, long, ropy proteins that weave themselves into the surfaces of our […]
After studying 118 newlywed couples for up to four years and regularly surveying the women, researchers Florida State University found that choosing a partner while on the pill might affect a woman’s marital satisfaction. After discontinuing hormonal contraceptives, women reported a drop in marital satisfaction. There’s a trick to it, though. Apparently, the drop in […]
The Mediterranean diet has long been known to provide a myriad of health benefits, reducing the risk of heart disease and cancer among others; but until now, no study has shown that it also protects telomeres, one of the biomarkers of aging. As the name gives it away, the Mediterranean diet follows the nutritional patterns of […]
You often hear people complaining that kids don’t play outside anymore – instead just hanging in the house all day long, playing on the computer (tablet/xbox/whatever). This is a pretty big problem, because there is a myriad of advantages to playing outside; this study has added yet another advantage to that list: playing outside reduces […]
The remains of King Richard III have been confirmed with pin-point accuracy by the latest round of sequencing; exclusive details on how the late tyrant king might have looked like are also now available. A few years back, a most surprising find was made under a car park in Leicester: none other than King Richard […]
Yoga, coffee and even chocolate can do wonders for your mood – it’s already a known fact. But what if technology stepped in – would you take a few electrical shots to substitute your urge for caffeine? If the answer is yes, or if you want to have more control on your mood, then good […]
Have you ever wondered why you crave for a drink from time to time or why you can drink alcohol in the first place, for that matter? Our ability to ingest and metabolize ethanol can be traced back to a common primate ancestor who lived some 10 million years ago, according to US researchers who […]
Oh, boy. This week’s freaky science story comes from the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York where researchers grafted mouse pups with human glial cells. Within one year, half the brain cells of the by now adult mice were human. A study made last year by the same team suggests that mice whose […]
There is currently no Lyme borreliosis vaccine available for humans available for purchase, but a new research has shown how such a vaccine could be made. Lyme disease (Lyme borreliosis) is an infectious disease caused by at least three species of bacteria belonging to the genus Borrelia. Each year, approximately 30,000 cases of Lyme disease are […]
Music is almost ubiquitous in our lives – we hear it in commercials, in the car, on the radio, at the movies, when you go out, when you stay in… we’re quite a musical society nowadays. But we still don’t understand many things about how music affects our bodies and our brains; now, a new […]
Genetic diversity is essential to our survival, but its exactly the huge variance in genetic information that makes all so sought for personalised treatment so difficult. And you don’t need to look at an entire population or even two different people to experience the power of diversity. It’s enough to look inside your own, personal […]
Being a teen can be difficult at times – but being a parent of a teen can be even more difficult. Sometimes, it’s like kids just close inside themselves and nothing from the outside can reach them. Well, according to a new study from Harvard, Pittsburgh and California Berkeley – that may actually be the […]
If you thought the bubonic plague is a thing of the past… then think again! The dreadful disease is making a resurgence in the island of Madagascar, off the eastern coast of Africa. There have already been 138 suspected cases of the disease, with a total of 47 victims. You may know the black plague as […]
For the first time, researchers in Germany have been able to create spinal cords in a Petri dish. To be more precise, they didn’t grow complete spinal cords, but neuroepithelial cysts, which are ellipsoid like and were about 60 μm in diameter. These cells express factors that are associated with spinal cord tissue and are in many […]
US researchers demonstrated an implantable device that can deliver a drug payload when triggered by a remote wireless signal. After the payload is delivered, the whole system, including electronics, dissolve within weeks without harming the body in any way. Doctors would leave behind the resorbable packaging and electronics post surgery for infection management by either thermal treatment or […]
Scientists have found that cocoa flavanols, substances found in chocolate, and to a lesser extent in blueberries, red wine, parsley and black tea have a positive impact on the memory of elders. Flavonoids are a class of plant secondary metabolites. Flavonoids were referred to as Vitamin P until 1950, but the term fell out of favor. Though there […]
The R&D and pre-marketing approval cost of a typical pharmaceutical drug sits at around $2.6 billion, according to a new study by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development. The study used actual expense data provided by 10 pharmaceutical companies on 106 randomly selected drugs that were first tested in human subjects anywhere in […]
Some people, like history’s greatest artists or scientists, have a fantastic imagination that long transcends reality. Others have this line completely blurred and can’t make sense of what’s real or not. For most of us, however, fantasy and reality are clearly separated in our mental psyche. Now, a team of neuroscientists have explored the neural pathways […]
The Nanoflare technology uses a genetic-based approach to detect and image live cancer cells present in the blood stream, well before these had a chance to develop into a tumor. The gene-hunting particles developed at Northwestern University might help doctors develop personalized treatments for their patients and curb cancer spread, according to the paper published […]
A massive independent genetic survey sought to replicate the findings of a 20 year old controversial study which identified a stretch on the X chromosome as being linked with homosexuality. The latest findings, which took into account the genetic makeup of a staggering 409 pairs of gay siblings, confirm the initial reports and further boost the […]
Triclosan is a common antimicrobial and antifungal agent found in consumer products, including soaps, detergents, toys and, surgical cleaning treatments. The effectiveness of Triclosan has been questioned many times, with studies showing that in the long run, it may actually have negative effects by creating bacterial resistance. Now, a new study on mice has found that […]
It’s no surprise for anyone to find that soldiers fighting together on the front-line are tied together by a special relationship. They have to be. Soldiers need to know they can wholeheartedly depend on each other, put faith in the other’s ability. It’s not just about survival. It’s about comfort; knowing there’s someone close to […]
There’s an immense body of evidence that proves that meditation has significant beneficial effects for mental health, but it’s only recently that researchers in Canada discovered a link between mindfulness meditation and altered cellular activity in cancer patients. Biology and meditation: no longer mutually exclusive “We already know that psychosocial interventions like mindfulness meditation will […]
Researchers at Baycrest Health Sciences’ Rotman Research Institute have found that patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who also show anxiety symptoms are at a much greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s. This was the first study of its kind that isolated anxiety in a longitudinal study covering people diagnosed with MCI, painting a clearer picture of […]
Scientists have found a way to prevent cancerous tumors in the prostate from spreading, effectively switching off the disease. Researchers from Bristol and Nottingham universities found that a single molecule plays a crucial role in the forming of new blood vessels, and the spread of tumors could be halted with a mere injection. A neoplasm (commonly […]
You just have to applaud the researcher that study mushrooms growing on horse dung to see what medicinal properties they have. Microbiologists molecular biologists at ETH Zurich and the University of Bonn have discovered a new agent in fungi that kills bacteria. The substance they found in the mushroom is called copsin. Copsin has a similar […]
Something as small as seeing pictures of others being loved and cared for silences our brain’s response to threat, a new study has found. The amygdalae, listed in the Gray’s Anatomy textbook as the nucleus amygdalæ, are a group of nuclei in the brain involved in the processing of memory, decision-making, and emotional reactions. The amygdala […]
Diabetes is one of the most prevalent diseases in the developed world, with more than 29 million infected Americans; 1 in 4 doesn’t know. Currently more than 29 million people in the United States have diabetes, up from the previous estimate of 26 million in 2010, according to a report released by the Centers for […]
An initial study has shown that a vaccine against Hep C currently in clinical trials is effective and also safe in humans. Hepatitis C is an infectious disease affecting primarily the liver, caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). There are some 200 million people in the world infected with the disease, and around 75-85% of […]
Despite the rapid adoption of genetically modified (GM) crops, there is still much controversy about this technology. Uncertainty about GM crop impacts is one reason for widespread public suspicion; a new study conducted a meta-analysis of the impacts (both economical and agricultural) caused by GM crops. The first genetically modified plant was produced in 1982, using […]
A breakthrough study authored by Harvard University developmental biologists has finally resolved the mystery of how sexual organs appeared for the first time in vertebrates. According to their findings, shortly after our sea-dwelling ancestors migrated on land, creatures were pressured to quickly evolve genitalia – which they didn’t require up until then. These sexual organs, at least […]
Vaccination has been highly successful in reducing the prevalence of poliomyelitis. Routine vaccination has helped reduce the number of cases by more than 99% in 30 years. However, epidemics are still occurring, and we’re still miles away from eradicating the virus. Researchers have now identified the exact strain responsible for recent outbreaks and showed that the mutations […]
French scientists described the mechanism through which two HIV-infected individuals have become “spontaneously cured” of the virus, explaining that this can lead to new, novel treatments in the fight against AIDS. The “apparent spontaneous cure” has opened up previously closed doors for drug engineers, they note. “The work opens up therapeutic avenues for a cure, using […]
Green MP Steffan Browning was slammed by the public opinion and has subsequently been stripped of one of his portfolios after he suggested fighting Ebola with homeopathy. I have to admit, I couldn’t help a chuckle on finding this out. I mean, the fact that a Member of the Parliament of a developed country suggests […]
In 2003, Dr. Lihong V. Wang at Washington University introduced one of the most exciting technologies we’ve had the chance to see in a long while. By combining ultrasound and light absorption, Wang and colleagues developed a new method that makes multicontrast images of biological tissues several inches below the skin. Among others, this allows specialists to see […]
Long term shift work has a permanent negative effect on the brain damaging cognitive ability and memory, a new study has revealed. The study found clear links between shift work and impairments in memory and thinking (cognition). People who worked in shifts for 10 years or more have, on average, an extra 6.5 years fall in memory […]
Seems like your mom was right all along: scratching does, in fact, makes the itching worse. This was the conclusion reached by a group of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis after the scientists studied the molecular and neural pathways that cause and relieve itching. The findings suggest that scratching releases serotonin – […]
If you’re reading this, then obviously you can read in English (at least partially); but a big part of English speaking societies are pooping wrong, and this could cause massive health problems. In other words, we, westerners, should change how we poop. As it turns out, the main culprit is the toilet. The throne. The […]
Three experimental studies have shown that hunger improves strategic decision making; scientists argue that hungry people are significantly better at making decisions involving uncertain outcomes. We take decisions involving unknown outcomes every day. In real life, rationality often times means giving up a smaller, immediate reward, for a more consistent reward in the long run. However, […]
On Tuesday, Google’s head of life sciences inside the company’s Google X research lab reported a new exciting project that involves using nanoparticles that magnetically attach to key molecules and cells in the bloodstream to detect diseases, including cancer. The particles – ingested under the form of a pill – would later be gathered, scanned and […]
According to a study from Women’s College Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), Canada, it doesn’t matter whether you live in a rural or urban setting when it comes to heart disease – the risk if the same for both environments. The general consensus is that those living in rural areas are […]
An American national study that looked at hospital emergency department visits for opioid overdoses found that 67.8% of the cases involved overdosing on prescription opioid drugs, including methadone. Next in line were heroin, other unspecified opioids and multiple opioids. It’s estimated that the treatment costs for the hospitalized overdosed patients in 2010 alone was $2.3 billion. Prescription drugs […]
