Like Civilization? Thank Tectonic Plates
Mesopotamia is Greek for “land between rivers” and indeed it sat between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, what is now basically modern Iraq.
Anthropology
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Archaeology
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Lady 56: A Swedish Grave Reveals A Famed Spanish Pilgrimage
If you see multiple graves in medieval graves, it is reasonable to assume children and adults were related, but a new study finds that was not the case.
Psychology
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Repressed Memories Nonsense Is Making A Comeback
Have you heard someone say online or in casual conversation, when responding to someone’s struggles, “well, the body keeps the score”? For many people, this phrase is a useful way to name the...
Science Education & Policy
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The Endangered Species Act Attempted To Define 'Habitat' And Controversy Ensued
It wouldn’t make much sense to prohibit people from shooting a threatened woodpecker while allowing its forest to be cut down, or to bar killing endangered salmon while allowing a dam to dry out...
Science History
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The Scorched Cherry Twig And Other Christmas Miracles Get A Science Look
Bleeding hosts and stigmatizations are the best-known medieval miracles but less known ones, like a scorched cherry twig miraculously sprouting, a diseased swamp becoming fertile land, and healing...
Philosophy & Ethics
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Editorial: This Week’s LA Non-riots
A Facebook friend opined that Los Angeles protesters could “turn LA into another Portland.” I expand for you my rejoinder to his post:
Left Brain, Right Brain Hardwired At The Individual Cell Level
It's well known that the left and right sides of the brain differ in many animal species and this is thought to influence cognitive performance and social behavior. For instance, in humans, the left…
Brain Imaging Project Shows Teen Brains Really Are Different
Teenagers insist parents can't understand them and parents think teens' brains are different than smaller children or adults. A new article by Jay N. Giedd, MD, of the National Institute of Mental…
Hypothalamus Modification In Rats Suggests Obesity Is Hard-Wired
A predisposition for obesity might be wired into the brain from the start, suggests a new study of rats in Cell Metabolism.
Rats selectively bred to be prone to obesity show abnormalities in a part…
Can This Infra-Red Helmet Cure Alzheimer's In 10 Minutes A Day?
Pioneering research at the University of Sunderland has shown that regular exposure to safe low level infra-red light can improve learning performance and kick-start the cognitive function of the…
Your Auditory Cortex Is Unique - Just Like Everyone Else's
BBSRC scientists have found that the part of the brain that deals with sound, the auditory cortex, is adapted in each individual and tuned to the world around us. We learn throughout our lives how to…
A Few More Pieces For The Puzzle That Is Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) affects as much as 10% of the world population above 65 years of age but after years of research it is still not understood exactly how the disease appears and, even less,…
Worm Study Helps To Understand The Evolution Of Sleep
The roundworm C. elegans, a staple of laboratory research, may be key in unlocking one of the central biological mysteries: why we sleep.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of…
Study: Daytime Naps Improve Long-Term Memory
A ninety minute daytime nap helps speed up the process of long term memory consolidation, a recent study conducted by Prof. Avi Karni and Dr. Maria Korman of the Center for Brain and Behavior…
Identified: Locations Of Thought Processes For Familiar Objects
The activation pattern evoked by a familiar object isn’t located in just one place in the brain, according to team of Carnegie Mellon University computer scientists and cognitive neuroscientists who…
Understanding Smell: How The Brain Rewires Neuronal Circuits 'On The Fly'
The brain remains a complicated machine but researchers from the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), a joint project of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh have…
