We are stardust - scientists and citizen scientists alike Physics Today's Ashley Smart describes a huge recent win for citizen science: some 30,000 volunteers pored over millions of microscopic…

Today and tomorrow I am attending a workshop in Padova titled as per the title above (but it is in Italian). If you know the language and are interested in the topic, there is available live…

Abortion and teen pregnancy dropped among teens who received free contraception and were educated about the pros and cons of various birth control methods, according to a new study in the New England…

Polish astronomers from the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) have discovered a young stellar bridge, that forms a continuous connection between the Magellanic Clouds. This…

Giving publishing power to the people. Credit: Thinglass/Shutterstock By Gillian Rudd, University of Liverpool A novel written in an invented “shadow tongue” to give the feel of Early Middle English…

The need for caution when any anomaly is revealed in new research. Credit: Flickr/Adam Gerard, CC BY-NC-SA By Michael J. I. Brown, Monash University UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH: What do we actually mean…

Ice sheets were never simple. There is no magic knob that could be turned to optimize melting rates and movement, outside environmental press releases. A new paper in Nature this week shows that not…

BEIJING; BERKELEY, CA; and UPTON, NY - The Daya Bay Collaboration, an international group of scientists studying the subtle transformations of subatomic particles called neutrinos, is publishing its…

When choosing a new leader, people base their decision on desirable characteristics such as honesty and trustworthiness. However once leaders are in power, can we trust them to exercise it in a…

If you need another good reason to hit the gym, a new study finds it can improve memory. Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have found that an intense workout of as little as 20 minutes can…

In video games, and in software downloads and processes, the status bar is often cheered or reviled. But they are here to stay. And now it may be possible to 'gamify' your medical progress. …

Mental illness has been under a lot of criticism in the last few years. The public feels like the psychology field over-medicates people based on subjective symptoms and recent high-profile violent…

Americans love their dogs, and most people clean up after their pets when they are out on a walk, but some do not: people who claim they wouldn't pour toxic chemicals or medicines onto the ground…

In 1908 the famously plump Venus of Willendorf, thought to be a symbol of fecundity, was discovered during an excavation near the Austrian town of Melk. It has been dated to 30,000 years ago and is…

Geneticists have found a mechanism sought for more than four decades that explains how gene duplication leads to novel functions in individuals.  Gene duplication is a biological phenomenon…

The public may be critical of the War On Cancer and its hundreds of billions of government money, but pharmaceutical companies have continue to make progress. A new study finds that 80 percent of…

Patterns of emergence are all around us. Credit: Feliciano Guimarães/Flickr, CC BY By Andy Martin, University of Melbourne and Kristian Helmerson, Monash University From the fractal patterns of…

Valium (Diazepam) and similar medicines degrade naturally in the environment but it takes time, and until it happens there is concern about the freshwater environment. Bacterial breakdown may give it…

How many freebies can you carry? Credit: Nottingham Trent University, CC BY-NC-ND By Kira Shaw, University of Sheffield Over the next few weeks there will be many nervous people across the country…

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex can treat symptoms of depression in humans by placing a relatively small device on a person's scalp and stimulating…