Detecting plants on other planets

Detecting plants on other planets

It's fun to imagine life on other planets being advanced alien civilizations and exotic creatures conversing in foreign languages but it's not possible to determine any of those things now. Instead,…
Curbing the Obesity Epidemic

Curbing the Obesity Epidemic

The obesity epidemic has become a major public health problem in both industrialized countries and the developing world. Recent studies suggest that the major development of persistent adiposity is…
The biology of meeting and mating

The biology of meeting and mating

Pheromones are a key reason many creatures, including humans, meet. In addition, while mating recognition systems in each species might be unique, pheromones are considered the important common…
Cosmic Horseshoe Discovered

Cosmic Horseshoe Discovered

A team led by Vasily Belokurov at the University of Cambridge in England has found the largest optical Einstein ring known. The astronomers say the object, which they dub the Cosmic Horseshoe,…
Want to be an astronaut?

Want to be an astronaut?

ESA is preparing for future human exploration missions to Mars. We are currently looking for volunteers to take part in a 520-day simulated Mars mission. To go to Mars is still a dream and one of the…
What Rules The Brain

What Rules The Brain

A probe of the upper echelons of the human brain's chain-of-command has found strong evidence that there are not one but two complementary commanders in charge of the brain, according to…
How Enzymes Work: A Major Discovery

How Enzymes Work: A Major Discovery

In a "2007 Hot Article" of the journal Biochemistry, University at Buffalo chemists report the discovery of a central mechanism responsible for the action of the powerful biological catalysts known…
New tools to forecast hurricane rainfall inland

New tools to forecast hurricane rainfall inland

All eyes are on where hurricanes make landfall, but the massive storms actually cause the most deaths inland, where severe flooding often surprises residents. Now, researchers are learning how to…
Using Old Math To Learn About New Waves

Using Old Math To Learn About New Waves

A new way of looking at a previously abandoned mathematical model might help astronomers study and accurately identify an exotic clan of gravitational waves. The waves in question come from small…
Neanderthal Man Was An Innovator

Neanderthal Man Was An Innovator

Neanderthal man was not as stupid as has been made out says a new study published by a University of Leicester archaeologist. In fact Neanderthals were far removed from their stereotypical image and…
Mystery of Earth's Innermost Core Solved

Mystery of Earth's Innermost Core Solved

New studies show that iron, the principal constituent of the innermost parts of the earth’s core, becomes unusually ‘soft’ at the extreme pressures and temperatures that prevail there. The findings…
Can your kids go two weeks without TV?

Can your kids go two weeks without TV?

What happens if you deprive a group of 7 and 8 year olds of computers, television and games consoles for two weeks? Psychologist and head of the Department of Media and Communication at the…