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Here's Where Your Backyard Was 300 Million Years Ago

We may use terms like "grounded" and terra firma to mean stability and consistency but geology...

Convergent Evolution Cheat Sheet Now 120 Million Years Old

One tenet of natural selection is a random walk of genes but nature may be more predictable than...

Synchrotron Could Shed Light On Exotic Dark Photons

There are many hypothetical particles proposed to explain dark matter and one idea to explore how...

The Pain Scale Is Broken But This May Fix It

Chronic pain is reported by over 20 percent of the global population but there is no scientific...

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Could A Teenage Brain Have Predicted Lady Gaga's Success?

Could A Teenage Brain Have Predicted Lady Gaga's Success?

Jun 13 2011 | comment(s)

Lady Gaga is a marketing-fueled pop music phenomenon.   If you exclude her music, she can do no wrong, and every appearance, even a walk through an airport, is carefully choreographed.   She knows her audience.

But a Little Monster could help create the next Lady Gaga in a more direct way.  A new study suggests that the brain activity of teens while they are listening to new songs may help predict the popularity of those songs.
Treatment For Primary Insomnia - Brain Cooling?

Treatment For Primary Insomnia - Brain Cooling?

Jun 13 2011 | comment(s)

A cap that literally cools the brain during sleep may be an effective insomnia treatment, according to new research.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says that chronic insomnia, symptoms that last for at least a month, affects about 10 percent of adults.  Most often insomnia is a "comorbid" disorder, occurring with another medical illness, mental disorder or sleep disorder, or associated with certain medications or substances. Fewer people with insomnia are considered to have primary insomnia, which is defined as a difficulty falling asleep or maintaining sleep in the absence of coexisting conditions.
Morning Person Or Night Owl? Sleep Type Predicts Batting Averages Of Baseball Players

Morning Person Or Night Owl? Sleep Type Predicts Batting Averages Of Baseball Players

Jun 13 2011 | comment(s)

Baseball coaches often use traditional metrics for managerial decisions, like batting results against specific pitchers, performance in certain park configurations and whether they bat from the left or right side in making strategic lineup decisions.

Maybe some day they can also think about what 'sleep type' their players are.
Is It Still Sexism If No One Notices?

Is It Still Sexism If No One Notices?

Jun 13 2011 | comment(s)

If you're in an older generation and a female calls another female "dude", it may seem strange to you.  It happens all of the time and should be a sign that sexism is less today but a recent study from Psychology of Women Quarterly says subtle, unnoticed daily acts of sexism like that, even women doing it to women, are a concern.
Progerin, Telomeres And New Clues About Aging

Progerin, Telomeres And New Clues About Aging

Jun 13 2011 | comment(s)

A new study offers insights about the interaction between a toxic protein called progerin and telomeres, which cap the ends of chromosomes like aglets, the plastic tips that bind the ends of shoelaces.   

Telomeres wear away during cell division. When they degrade sufficiently, the cell stops dividing and dies. The researchers have found that short or dysfunctional telomeres activate production of progerin, which is associated with age-related cell damage. As the telomeres shorten, the cell produces more progerin.

Progerin is a mutated version of a normal cellular protein called lamin A, which is encoded by the normal LMNA gene. Lamin A helps to maintain the normal structure of a cell's nucleus, the cellular repository of genetic information.
Routine Screening For Autism Unnecessary

Routine Screening For Autism Unnecessary

Jun 13 2011 | comment(s)

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently recommended that screening for autism be incorporated into routine
physician check-ups, even if no concern has been raised by the parents.

Such routine screening of all children for autism gets a thumbs down from researchers at McMaster University in a Pediatrics study.  The researchers say there is "not enough sound evidence to support the implementation of a routine population-based screening program for autism."