We're bombarded with information at all times, so much that if we had to try and process it all times, we'd be paralyzed. Our cerebellum does information damage control by filtering out what changes. Evolution made it possible for us to conserve energy while still processing anomalies quickly.
Akron, Ohio, Dec. 22, 2015 -- What drives you to Facebook? News? Games? Feedback on your posts? The chance to meet new friends?
If any of these hit home, you might have a Facebook dependency. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, says Amber Ferris, an assistant professor of communication at The University of Akron's Wayne College.
Ferris, who studies Facebook user trends, says the more people use Facebook to fulfill their goals, the more dependent on it the become. She is quick to explain this dependency is not equivalent to an addiction. Rather, the reason why people use Facebook determines the level of dependency they have on the social network. The study found those who use Facebook to meet new people were the most dependent on Facebook overall.
Almost 10 years ago, we created the Science 2.0 movement, which was geared toward modernizing science collaboration, publication, communication and participation. And then...not much changed. Science is, at its heart, competitive and there is no benefit for most scientists in collaborating. The person who puts something all together at the end will win a Nobel Prize and everyone else will get nothing.
On the smaller scale, everyone who wants government funding is competing for it, so collaboration will only help another lab avoid expensive mistakes or get to a result sooner. Science 2.0 was greeted with enthusiasm...for someone else, anyway.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Animals from tiny worms to human beings have a love-hate relationship with fats and lipids. Cholesterol is a famous example of how they are both essential for health and often have a role in death. A new study reveals another way that may be true. Researchers, working in nematodes and mice, found that a naturally occurring protein responsible for transporting fats like cholesterol around the body also hinders essential functions in cells that increase life span.
Rational use of medicines remains to be one of the most challenging problems in health systems worldwide. Kazan Federal University researchers conducted a practical study to assess the impact of introducing evidence-based principles to the practice of medicine procurement in order to manage budget expenditures on medicines of a multidisciplinary health facility for the period of 2011-2014.
Researchers long have known that some portion of the risk of developing cancer is hereditary and that inherited genetic errors are very important in some tumors but much less so in others.
In a new analysis, researchers have shed light on these hereditary elements across 12 cancer types -- showing a surprising inherited component to stomach cancer and providing some needed clarity on the consequences of certain types of mutations in well-known breast cancer susceptibility genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2.
The study, from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, appears Dec. 22 in the journal Nature Communications.
Borrowing insights from techniques used to image cancer, Stanford scientists have devised a new method for generating "training images" that can be used to fine-tune models of uncertainty about underground physical processes and structures.
Having an accurate picture of the planet's subsurface is crucial for rational decision-making across a wide variety of activities, including environmental cleanup, oil and natural gas well-drilling, and the underground sequestration of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.
Astrophysicists have obtained precise measurements for an object orbiting a black hole five billion light years away - and the innermost region of a disc of matter in orbital motion around a supermassive black hole tucked inside the quasar known as Einstein’s Cross (Q2237-0305). This constitutes the most precise set of measurements achieved to date for such a small and distant object, and was made possible thanks to years of monitoring as part of the OGLE and GLITP gravitational microlensing projects, which have had their lenses trained on this quasar for 12 and 9 years, respectively. Typically, astronomers can only detect bright objects that emit a lot of light or large objects that block background light.
America is the fattest country on Earth and there are efforts being made to insure the 100 thin women still remaining don't set a bad example by not being obese. S. Bryn Austin, director of the Harvard Chan School's Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders (STRIPED) and Director of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression working group is leading the call to prohibit thin fashion models from participating in fashion shows or photo shoots if they are too thin.
TORONTO, Dec. 17, 2015 - More than one in nine people with hepatitis C in Canada spend time in a correctional facility each year and researchers said this presents a unique opportunity to focus hepatitis C prevention and control efforts in incarcerated populations.
People who have spent time in correctional facilities have higher risk factors for hepatitis C, including injection drug use and needle sharing, both in custody and in the community, according to the paper published online today in the Canadian Journal of Public Health.
Climate change is rapidly heating up lakes around the world, threatening freshwater supplies and ecosystems across the planet, according to a study spanning six continents.
More than 60 scientists took part in the research, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters and announced today at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
AMES, IA - As the popularity of fresh culinary herbs increases, growers are looking to year-round production methods to supply distributors and local consumers. In colder climates, culinary herb growers rely on controlled indoor environments and often employ hydroponic production techniques. A new study of basil varieties grown using two popular techniques found that plant performance is more likely related to the choice of cultivar than the type of hydroponic system used.
EPFL scientists have found that chronic inflammation can cause regenerating cells to grow into new, aberrant types; this is called metaplasia, and is a disorder linked to prolonged inflammation. The study highlights a new concept of chronic inflammation and could lead to better treatments.
Chronic inflammation turns the immune system on for prolonged periods of time. As a result, it underlies many disorders that are associated with chronic inflammation, including cancer and abnormal wound healing. EPFL scientists have now discovered an additional component: chronic inflammation can cause cells to actually change type - here, eye cells turned into skin. The study is published in Nature Cell Biology.
