A biotech company in the U.S. has been granted ethical permission by an Institutional Review Board in the U.S. and India to use 20 brain-dead patients for what is sure to be a highly controversial study: From next year, they plan to stimulate their nervous systems in order to restart the brains. Bioquark is hoping that its […]
From believing that clouds are alien spaceships to thinking that MI6 agents are following you in unmarked cars, delusions are the hallmark of severe mental illness. Even psychologists and psychiatrists who work with delusional patients remain puzzled about why someone can possibly hold such beliefs when the evidence is clearly contradictory. And if we can’t […]
Caffeine is the world’s most widely consumed psychoactive drug. For many of us, the day doesn’t start without a dose. But you’d be wrong to think it isn’t without its dangers. Two young people have died in the past few years from taking caffeine in its powdered form, sparking new debate about how we see this […]
Aging takes its toll on the brain, and the cells of the hippocampus—a brain region with circuitry crucial to learning and memory—are particularly vulnerable to changes that can lead to Alzheimer’s disease or cognitive decline. With the hope of counteracting the changes that can lead to these two conditions, researchers at Rockefeller University and their […]
Physicists may soon know if a potential new subatomic particle is something beyond their wildest dreams — or if it exists at all. Hints of the new particle emerged last December at the Large Hadron Collider. Theorists have churned out hundreds of papers attempting to explain the existence of the particle —assuming it’s not a […]
This weekend marks the 26th year in orbit for the Hubble Space Telescope, which was launched on April 24, 1990, aboard the Shuttle Discovery. Every year to commemorate the day, Hubble observes a specific object of astronomical importance. This year, NASA and ESA have picked the incredible Bubble Nebula. The nebula, also known as NGC 7635, lies 8,000 light-years from Earth in […]
A group of physicists recently built the smallest engine ever created from just a single atom. Like any other engine it converts heat energy into movement – but it does so on a smaller scale than seen before. The atom is trapped in a cone of electromagnetic energy and lasers are used to heat it […]
Researchers have discovered that an injection of a protein called IL-33 can reverse Alzheimer’s-like symptoms and cognitive decline in mice, restoring their memory and cognitive function to the same levels as healthy mice in the space of one week. Mice bred to develop a progressive Alzheimer’s-like disease as they aged (called APP/PS1 mice) were given […]
Crows, ravens, and other corvids are sometimes called feathered apes. Like primates, these birds form social groups, use tools, solve puzzles, recognize faces, and enjoy a good joke (especially if it’sat the expense of cats). Now a group of researchers has shown in a series of tests that corvids exhibit the same levels of self-control […]
DNA analysis of over 380 thousand inhabitants of Britain allowed geneticists to identify several genes that determine the speed of the onset of puberty, the first sex and the birth of their first child, according to an article published in the journal Nature Genetics. “Of course, the social and cultural factors influence very much at […]
