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 Hello, Hot Stuff! New Hawaii Magma Source Found Read More » Scientists Map What Your Brain Looks Like on English Researchers may now be closer to understanding how the brain processes sounds, or at least those made in English. Taking advantage of a group of hospitalized epilepsy patients who had electrodes hooked directly to their brains to monitor for seizures, Dr. Edward Chang and his colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco, and University of California, Berkeley, were able to listen in on the brain as it listened to 500 English sentences spoken by 400 different native English speakers. Read More »First Image of Cosmic Web Revealed by Deep-Space 'Flashlight' Read More » Bees' Salt-Sensing Feet Explain Swimming Pool Mystery Read More » Scientists Map What Your Brain Looks Like on English Ever wonder how your brain distinguishes all the sounds in a language? How does it know "b" is different from "z"? Read More » DuPont adds weather, new trading to precision farming program Read More » 5 Battles in the War Between Creationism and Evolution
Scientists Map What Your Brain Looks Like on English Researchers may now be closer to understanding how the brain processes sounds, or at least those made in English. Taking advantage of a group of hospitalized epilepsy patients who had electrodes hooked directly to their brains to monitor for seizures, Dr. Edward Chang and his colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco, and University of California, Berkeley, were able to listen in on the brain as it listened to 500 English sentences spoken by 400 different native English speakers. Read More »Fast and Sexy: Hot Cyclists Really Do Win the Race The Tour de France is a bike race, not a beauty contest. The link between sexiness and cycling success hints that male attractiveness might signal evolutionary fitness, researchers report today (Feb. 4) in the journal Biology Letters. Women may clue into some facet of male hotness as an evolutionary remnant of the days when long-distance hunting and gathering meant the difference between life and death, said study researcher Erik Postma, an evolutionary biologist at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Zürich. "If a woman chooses a man with high endurance, she can be sure he will bring home plenty of food for herself and her children," Postma told Live Science. Read More »First Death from New H10N8 Bird Flu Reported An elderly woman in China is the first person known to have died from a strain of bird flu called H10N8, according to a new report of the case. The 73-year old woman, from Jiangxi Province in China, developed a fever, cough and chest tightness in late November last year, and was admitted to the hospital soon afterwards. Tests showed the woman did not have a seasonal flu virus, but rather, she was infected with H10N8, a flu virus that's been detected previously in wild and domestic birds, but had never been seen in people. Late last month, another case of H10N8 was reported in a 55-year old woman living in the same province in China, and she is in stable condition, according to the World Health Organization. Read More »One-Third of Kids Killed in Car Crashes Were Unbuckled One-third of children who die in car crashes are not buckled up, according to a new government report. "Thousands of children are in risk on the road because they are not buckled up," CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said at a news conference today (Feb. 4). Studies have shown that using seat belts, car seats and booster seats that are appropriate for a child's age and size significantly reduces the risk of injury and death in a crash. In 2011, more than 650 children ages 12 and under died in car crashes. Read More »World Bank eyes $1 billion African resource mapping fund in July By Wendell Roelf CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - The World Bank wants to launch a $1 billion fund in July to map the mineral resources of Africa, using satellites and airborne surveys to fill geological gaps across the continent where a lack of adequate data hampers mining investments. The World Bank has committed $200 million to the five-year fund, and was meeting with mining companies and governments from sub-Saharan Africa who have expressed interest, a senior bank official told Reuters on Wednesday. "Times are tough, so the mining companies are counting their pennies, but there is a lot of interest because it is exactly when commodity prices are low and the companies are reducing their investment budgets that having the information to guide their priorities is valuable," said Paulo de Sa, senior manager at the World Bank's mining unit. De Sa met with 10 mining companies on the sidelines of an African mining conference, including Rio Tinto and Ivanhoe Mines, who were interested in the fund. Read More »Icicles Galore: Visitors Flock to Apostle Islands' Frozen Ice Caves (Photo) Read More » Smashing Gold! Big Bang's 'Particle Soup' To Be Created in Lab Read More » Russian Supply Ship Launching to Space Station Today: Watch It Live Read More » Jupiter and Orion Shine Over Canary Islands in Dazzling Night Sky Photo
Sochi Olympics: Ground Zero for Avalanches? The Caucasus Mountains, which stretch across southern Russia from the Caspian Sea westward to the Black Sea, are home to some of the highest peaks in the world — Mount Elbrus, at 18,510 feet (5,642 meters), is the highest mountain in Europe. The rugged, isolated mountain range is getting international attention this week, as the world's gaze turns to the 2014 Winter Olympics, held in Sochi on the western edge of the Caucasus range. But since 2008 (when Sochi was selected as the Olympic host city), the jagged peaks and rocky slopes of the Caucasus Mountains have been scrutinized by scientists because of one other feature of the range: Its unique combination of climate and topography has caused some of the deadliest avalanches in recent history. On the evening of Sept. 20, 2002, a fast-moving avalanche of rock and ice killed 140 people, smashed dozens of homes and businesses, wiped out roads and obliterated other infrastructure on the northern face of the Caucasus Mountains near the Kolka Glacier. Read More »Germany says will abstain on EU vote to approve GMO maize Germany will abstain in an upcoming European Union vote to approve cultivation of genetically modified maize of type 1507, a government spokesman said on Wednesday. The European Commission proposed in November that governments approve only the third ever genetically modified crop for cultivation in Europe and a vote is expected on Tuesday next week. The proposal covers an insect-resistant maize developed jointly by DuPont and Dow Chemical which, if approved, would end Monsanto's current monopoly in Europe's tiny market for GMO crops. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said: "The German government has agreed to abstain in the vote on the approval of this GMO maize of type 1507." "It is normal procedure to abstain on a dossier where there are different opinions within the government on the matter." (Reporting by Stephen Brown and Michael Hogan; Read More »Indian Ocean's Oldest Shipwreck Set for Excavation Read More » Peer Inside an Asteroid: Peanut-Shaped Space Rock's Insides Revealed (Photos) Read More » Killer Whale Populations Took Deep Dive During Ice Age Read More » Robotic Russian Cargo Ship Launches Express Delivery to Space Station
France plans law to restore GMO crop ban France has launched a move to restore a ban on genetically modified (GMO) maize annulled by its top court to prevent sowings this spring that could raise public outcry in a country strongly opposed to GMO crops. A Senator of the ruling Socialist party submitted a draft law on Tuesday calling for the cultivation of any variety of genetically modified maize to be prohibited in the country. France's previous bans on GMO maize, which only applied to Monsanto's MON 810, the sole GMO crop allowed for cultivation in the European Union, had all been overturned by the country's highest administrative court as lacking sufficient scientific grounds. Read More »Low T: Real Illness or Pharma Windfall? Low levels of the sex hormone testosterone — commonly referred to as "low T" — have been blamed for a host of health conditions, ranging from depression to increased breast size in men. "We're giving people hormones that we don't know they need, for a disease that we don't know they have, and we don't know if it'll help them or harm them," Dr. Lisa Schwartz, a professor at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, told The New York Times. Read More »18.2 Feet! One of Biggest Burmese Pythons Caught in Florida Read More » Bill Nye's Creationism Debate Not a Total Disaster, Scientists Say Read More » Giant Astronaut Statue Envisioned for New Apollo Visitor Center in Texas Read More » Black Holes Heated Early Universe Slower Than Previously Thought Read More » | ||||||||
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| Americans' Mental Health is Latest Victim of Changing Climate (Op-Ed) Read More » Philip Seymour Hoffman: Why Heroin Is So Deadly A heroin overdose seems to be what ended actor Philip Seymour Hoffman's life yesterday (Feb. 2), just like the lives of many before him. Although news reports say the police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding Hoffman's death, the likely involvement of heroin brings up the question of why the substance so deadly. So when you're taking heroin, you're not 100 percent sure what you're getting," said Dr. Scott Krakower, a psychiatrist at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, N.Y., who specializes in drug addiction counseling. Another reason heroin takes many victims is that it can be injected, Krakower said. Read More »Black Death Likely Altered European Genes Read More » Mosquito Sperm Have 'Sense of Smell' Read More » Added Sugar May Boost Risk of Heart Disease, Death Many Americans consume too much added sugar, a habit that not only increases the risk of obesity, but may also increase the risk of dying from heart disease, a new study suggests. The World Health Organization recommends limiting calories from added sugar to less than 10 percent of your daily total. What's more, people who consumed between 17 and 21 percent of their daily calories from added sugar were nearly 40 percent more likely to die from cardiovascular disease over a 14-year period than those who consumed about 8 percent of their daily calories from added sugar, the study found. People who drank seven or more sugar-sweetened beverages (such as soda) per week — a common source of added sugar — were about 30 percent more likely to die from cardiovascular disease during the study than those who drank one or fewer sugar-sweetened beverages per week. Read More »The Most Religious US State Is ...
Strange Saturn Vortex Swirls in Amazing NASA Photo Read More » Heat Wave Deaths May Triple by the 2050s They found that by the 2050s, the number of heat-related deaths in England and Wales could surge by 3.5 times its current number, to around 2,000 deaths yearly in these regions, according to the study published today (Feb. 3) in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Exposure to hot weather can bring about hyperthermia, a condition in which a person's body absorbs more heat than it dissipates, resulting in dangerously high body temperatures that require medical attention. Every year, about 650 Americans die from hyperthermia — a death toll greater than that of tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and earthquakes combined, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The elderly and people with underlying medical conditions are at higher risk of dying from hyperthermia. Read More »Godspeed the John Glenn: Navy Christens Ship for 1st American to Orbit Earth Read More » 'Fossilized Rivers' Reveal Clues About Disappearing Glaciers Read More » Strange, Hypervelocity Stars Get Ejected from Milky Way Read More » Woman's IVF Prevented Fatal Brain Disorder in Her Children A woman whose genes put her at high risk for a rare brain disorder was able to avoid passing on the condition to her children through a special in-vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure, according to a new report of the case. The woman, a 27-year-old in the United States, had undergone genetic testing that showed she had inherited a gene that put her at risk for Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker (GSS) syndrome, a rare and fatal brain disorder seen in only a few families in the world. To have children, the woman and her husband used IVF, an assisted-reproduction technique in which eggs from the mother are fertilized in a laboratory. But before implanting the embryos in the uterus, doctors took an extra step and screened the embryos for the GSS genetic mutation. Read More »Tiny Numbers Can Predict Sizes of Objects in the Universe Read More » The North Star Polaris Is Getting Brighter Read More » Pompeii-like Eruption Fossilized Dinos in Death Poses Read More » Dramatic Sun Storm, Partial Solar Eclipse Spied by NASA Spacecraft (Video) Read More » Mars Rover Curiosity Poised at Edge of Red Planet Dune (Photo) Read More » Ultrathin, Flexible Sensor Could Improve Health-Monitoring Tech Read More » FDA Launches 1st Campaign Against Youth Smoking The Food and Drug Administration is launching its first national campaign to prevent and reduce smoking among young people, the agency announced today. "The Real Cost" campaign, which includes posters and TV ads, is targeted to kids ages 12 to 17, and aims to reduce the number of teens who become regular smokers, according to the FDA. "We know that early intervention is critical, with almost nine out of every 10 regular adult smokers picking up their first cigarette by age 18," FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg said in a statement. Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, accounting for more than 440,000 deaths each year. Read More »Cold-Weather Benefit: Shivering May Count As Exercise Shivering triggers a response in muscles similar to that of exercise, new research suggests. If this same response could be activated by a drug, then scientists could one day develop medicines that could amp up energy expenditure, without requiring people to break a sweat — or a shiver, said study co-author Dr. Francesco Celi, an endocrinologist at Virginia Commonwealth University. A hormone called irisin seemed critical in the process, but exactly how it was linked to energy expenditure wasn't clear. To find out, Celi asked seven healthy study participants to ride a bike as hard as they could, and measured their maximum oxygen uptake, or VO2 max. This allowed the researchers to calculate the participants' maximum energy expenditure. Read More » | ||||
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