What causes aging and how can it be altered? According to University of Toronto researchers, the loss of our tissues’ ability to develop and repair itself can be manipulated, leading to claims that the removal of TIMPs — tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases — could direct us toward a Fountain of Youth. Simplified, metalloproteins are responsible … Read more
In a finding that scientists are calling “beyond surprising,” the decades-long series of outbreaks of leukemia among clams on the eastern North American coast has been attributed the spreading of cancer from one clam to another. The finding has prompted scientists to reassess the assumption that contagious cancers are rare occurrences in nature. “I think the … Read more
Women more likely to avoid harming even a single person, even if it results in thousands of deaths, research finds Although females rationally evaluate the outcomes of actions the same as males, females make different decisions about their actions, according to recent research. Females are more strongly influenced by emotional aversion to causing immediate harm … Read more
Researchers at Tokyo University have added a new sense to the brains of rats. The procedure was relatively simple and the rats integrated the new sense — a geomagnetic compass — quickly. Blind rats given the new sense were soon able to navigate laboratory mazes almost as well as sighted rats. Because of the ease … Read more
Usually, sound reflects off of the objects it encounters, bouncing some sound waves back in the direction from which they came — this phenomenon is familiar in the application of sonar. No technology has yet been developed that can provide sonar invisibility to any object, but a team of Singaporean researchers recently proposed a novel material surface that could do … Read more
The Ebola virus, which has taken the lives of over 4,000 people in Liberia over the past year, could be wiped out completely by the beginning of summer. It is not a foregone conclusion, but it is a realistic possibility, according to the researchers responsible for a new forecast based on new highly inclusive models. “I think the … Read more
According to recent work conducted by a joint team of researchers from James Cook University, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, the University of Heidelberg, and the National Institutes of Health, the body’s cells not only learn from the infections they encounter, becoming better able to deal with various infections throughout life, … Read more
A cognitive bias, the “illusion of causality,” has been explored by a joint team of scientists who found that the bias isn’t limited to false beliefs about whatever was originally learned; later on, the bias can prevent new information from being learned — even when the original information is false and the newer information is … Read more
A type of African fish that lives for only 4-6 months — ideally suited to its perpetually disappearing temporary habitat — has become a new model organism for the study of aging. Researchers at Stanford University are using new technology that allows them to edit specific genes in a series to understand some of the biggest challenges … Read more
The sixth taste has been identified — fat. Deakin University scientists put fat through a series of tests to see if it met the strict requirements of a taste, and found conclusive evidence that fat made the grade. The findings could hold new promise in the fight against obesity. “Research from animal and human studies provide … Read more
Animal rights activists will welcome this news with enthusiasm: the Wyss Institute at Harvard University has developed a chip that could save the lives of millions of laboratory animals. The chip would imitate the operation of complete organs and thus predict more effectively the effects of treatment on humans. Animal experimentation is subject to much debate on … Read more
The prevailing assumption about dark matter is that has no interaction with light, but European physicists who investigated a possible signature of dark matter at the edges of theM101 Pinwheel galaxy now believe that light may be interacting with dark matter to produce “light halos” — detectable glows around the edges spiral galaxies. “Dark Matter can … Read more