The smoothness of a ball’s surface is a critical factor in how a ball swerves, according to a new study. And if you know soccer (football) you know every year the ball in the World Cup is different - and invariably the source of complaints.

The World Cup 2014 is off to a roaring start - not a single 0-0 tie game - which is great for fans but terrifying for goalies. Yes, it's the ball. The “Jabulani” used at the 2010 World Cup was reviled while the new ball used at this year’s tournament in Brazil, the “Brazuca,” has a slightly rougher surface, and may be more predictable. The results so far still can't be making goalies happy.

In the 1830s, jails were an all-purpose solution for a lot of issues. Inmates lived in squalor and people truly did not want to be there so there was a lot less crime. The downside was that nobody really cared about the people who did not belong there, like those with 'retardation' who had been abandoned, or people who were mentally ill but not criminals.

The process of blood glucose control could improve dramatically with a bionic pancreas, according to a new study. Currently, people with type 1 diabetes maintain a constant vigil because their pancreas doesn't make the hormone insulin and so they need to manually insure that blood glucose levels don't get dangerously high and low. Several times a day they must use fingerstick tests to monitor their blood glucose levels and manually take insulin by injection or from a pump. 

Western journalists dutifully issue accolades for friends in the business who are killed covering military conflicts - but they are primarily highly-paid elites and very much do not want to take unnecessary risks.

When you add in the complexities of a dictatorship, where corporate and local journalists who want to remain out of jail only go where they are told to go, the coverage becomes even more pointless.  But citizen journalists in places like Syria can go places corporate journalists won't, or can't, according to a paper in the Index on Censorship magazine. It found more reports were coming from citizen journalists than traditional media, in all areas of the country, with the exception of Homs.

Due in large part to the popularity of energy drinks and chain coffee shops, caffeine intake by children and adolescents has risen substantially - some drinks are marketed to children as young as four.

Unlike nicotine, caffeine has slipped under the cultural radar as a harmless drug, even for kids, but some research is happening. A new paper about a small study says that after puberty, boys and girls experience different heart rate and blood pressure changes after consuming caffeine. Girls also experience some differences in caffeine effect during their menstrual cycles. 

In time for Autistic Pride Day 18 June:

    Why do people congratulate somebody? Asperger’s sufferers often do not understand this. I asked myself:

  “I’ve won the lottery, so why additionally congratulate me? If congratulation is something positive, why give it to someone who has just been lucky already?”

With still three months to go and 663 teams participating, the Higgs challenge has not even entered a hot phase yet, and still there is a lot to watch in the leaderboard at the kaggle site.
In the last few days, there has been a total revolution in the leading position, and a considerable increase in the best scores. And Lubos Motl is again third (and he would be first if there had been no movement in the other positions), implicitly answering some detractors who wrote comments in a previous post on the matter here. See the standings below.

Though mainstream journalism likes to link every bit of weather, even a deep freeze last winter, to global warming, the "Arctic amplification phenomenon" is unlikely to lead to more days of extreme cold, new research has shown.

The Arctic amplification phenomenon refers to the faster rate of warming in the Arctic compared to places further south. It is this phenomenon that has been linked to a spike in the number of severe cold spells experienced in recent years over Europe and North America.

New research by University of Exeter expert Dr James Screen has shown that Arctic amplification has actually reduced the risk of cold extremes across large swathes of the Northern Hemisphere.

The gluten-specific enzyme ALV003 reduces a patient's exposure to gluten and its potential harm, according to a new phase 2 study appearing in Gastroenterology. It's the first time a non-dietary intervention has been shown to potentially benefit celiac disease patients.  

Throughout Earth's geological history, there have been numerous warming and cooling phases. The last Ice Age only ended 11-12,000 years ago

The Antarctic Peninsula, the northern most region of Antarctica, is experiencing some dramatic changes, including population declines of some penguin species, but this is not the first time that region has felt the effects of climate warming.

How did penguins respond to the melting of snow and ice cover 11,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age?