News
- Health & Medicine
Chocolate may have arrived early to U.S. Southwest
A new study suggests that people in America’s Southwest were making cacao beverages as early as A.D. 1000.
- Humans
When dreams come true
People see hidden truths in their dreams and use dreams to guide waking attitudes and behaviors, especially when dream content supports pre-existing beliefs, researchers say.
By Bruce Bower - Life
Whipping fluids along in microlabs
Researchers have detailed one way for hairlike structures to drive liquid in a "lab on a chip."
- Space
Big black holes may not stop star birth
New study suggests models may have given these supermassive beasts too much credit.
By Ron Cowen - Health & Medicine
Excess blood sugar could harm cognition
Chronically high blood sugar levels in elderly people with diabetes seem to contribute to worsened cognitive function, a study shows.
By Nathan Seppa - Life
Serotonin turns shy locusts into cereal killers
Serotonin can turn solitary locusts into swarming biblical-scale crop destroyers.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Parenting shapes genetic risk for drug use
A three-year study of black teens in rural Georgia finds that involved, supportive parenting powerfully buffers the tendency of some genetically predisposed youngsters to use drugs.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Fingerprints filter the vibrations fingers feel
A new robotics study suggests that the ridges select the right frequencies for light touch
- Health & Medicine
Donating a kidney doesn’t hurt long-term health
A survey of donors since the 1960s finds survival rates on par with the general population.
By Nathan Seppa - Humans
Young scientists clear hurdle in national competition
Intel Science Talent Search finalists announced.
- Health & Medicine
I feel your pain, even though I can’t feel mine
A new imaging study looks at how people are able to empathize with others, even when they haven’t experienced something firsthand.
- Materials Science
Superconductors escape Flatland
Iron-based materials allow 3-D current flow, open new doors for understanding superconductivity.