Some species of marine phytoplankton, such as the prolific bloomer Emiliania huxleyi, can grow without consuming vitamin B1 (thiamine), which contradicts the common view that E. huxleyi and many…

Nitrite-oxidizing bacteria are key players in the natural nitrogen cycle on Earth and in biological wastewater treatment plants but scientists have learned something new about how they are powered.…

The exchange of chemical signals between organisms is considered the oldest form of communication. Acting as messenger molecules, pheromones regulate social interactions between conspecifics, for…

Astrophysicists have detected the formation of radioactive cobalt during a supernova explosion, lending credence to a corresponding theory of supernova explosions.  The article's main author,…

The rise of the Tibetan plateau, the largest topographic anomaly above sea level on Earth, is important for both its profound effect on climate and its reflection of continental dynamics. For a new…

Using the Borexino instrument, located deep beneath Italy's Apennine Mountains and one of the most sensitive neutrino detectors on the planet, an international team of physicists has directly…

By George Veletsianos, Royal Roads University The belief that technology can automate education and replace teachers is pervasive. Framed in calls for greater efficiency, this belief is present in…

Why wild animals genetically changed into domesticated forms has long been a mystery, covered by the blanket artificial selection reasoning. A new paper in Science says that many genes controlling…

Until the last few decades, the frontal lobes of the brain were shrouded in mystery and erroneously thought of as nonessential for normal function—hence the frequent use of lobotomies in the early…

Supersize me: buffet edition. Joanna Servaes, CC BY-NC By Aaron Blaisdell, University of California, Los Angeles Rats are very useful for studying human eating behaviour. Both rats and humans are…

Although separated by hundreds of millions of years of evolution, flies, worms, and humans share ancient patterns of gene expression and it's all in our genomic data. Three related studies in Nature,…

Learning a new skill is easier when it is related to an ability we already have. For example, a trained pianist can learn a new melody easier than learning how to hit a tennis serve. Scientists from…

The next time you get really mad, take a look in the mirror. See that lowered brow, the thinned lips and the flared nostrils? That's what social scientists call the "anger face," and they believe it…

There is a reason alternative medicine has an adjective in front of it - it can't survive double-blind clinical trials the way medicine has. But at least it isn't harmful. In most cases. However,…

A chronic problem in wine making is when yeast that should be busily converting grape sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide prematurely shuts down, leaving the remaining sugar to instead be consumed…

Though the rich get richer and the stock market is booming, which has led to claims by the administration that things are fine, the American public hasn't been this pessimistic about the future since…

Credit: Birkbeck Media Services Centre, CC BY-NC-ND By Gina Rippon, Aston University International orientation weeks for new overseas students are looming for universities across the UK. At all our…

Somewhere in this much-incinerated plant lies valuable medicine: perhaps a treatment for cancer or an antidote to obesity.Prensa 420/Flickr, CC BY-NC By David J. Allsop, University of Sydney and Iain…

A diet of junk food not only makes rats fat, but also reduces their appetite for novel foods, a preference that normally drives them to seek a balanced diet, according to a study in Frontiers in…

In the 1970s, Florida environmentalists who had invented the notion that landfills were going to overrun America came up with the idea of making coral reefs out of tires. A few short decades later,…