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:
Zombie Brain On A Chip
A biotech company, Tensor Biosciences of Irvine, California, has developed a method to keep pieces of living brain tissue alive for weeks, which will allow research on entire neural networks rather…
Full Moon Has No Effect On Epilepsy - Werewolves Unclear
Werewolves notwithstanding, the full moon does not influence the frequency of epileptic seizures, reports a University of South Florida study.
"Contrary to the myth, epileptic seizures are not more…
Study: Decision Making Is Like An Assembly Line
The brain might work more like an assembly line when recognizing objects, with a hierarchy of brain regions separately absorbing and processing information before a person realizes what they are…
Leptin, The Prefrontal Cortex And The Brain Circuits That Control Hunger
Reporting in the Oct. 29 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Edythe London, a professor of psychiatry in the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior…
Discovery: Insula Is The Drug-Craving Brain Region In Rats
Chilean researchers have identified a region of the brain – the insular cortex – that plays a role in drug craving in amphetamine-addicted rats, according to a report published Science. This finding…
Can Sounds Determine How Masculine Or Feminine Someone Looks?
Can sounds alter how masculine or feminine a person looks?
A new study by neuroscientists from Northwestern University focuses on the brain’s processing of such sensory information about another’s…
Machiavelli Was Right: Even Monkeys Are Political Creatures
It's not just humans with a tendency for political maneuvering and nepotism. Rhesus macaques do it also, according to research by Dario Maestripieri, an expert on primate behavior and an Associate…
Vagus Nerve Is Direct Link From Brain To Immune System, Says Researcher
It used to be dogma that the brain was shut away from the actions of the immune system, shielded from the outside forces of nature. But that’s not how it is at all. In fact, thanks to the scientific…
Oxytocin in Pregnant Women Predicts Mother-Child Bond
Humans are hard-wired to form enduring bonds with others. One of the primary bonds across the mammalian species is the mother-infant bond. Evolutionarily speaking, it is in a mother’s best interest…
ADHD And Working Memory
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a state of serious impairments in both learning ability and social functioning, is one of many labels for one of the most prevalent conditions in…
