Two recent studies failed to find a connection between testosterone therapy in men and heart problems, contradicting claims that prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to investigate its safety.
The new studies include a meta-analysis of data from 29 studies involving more than 120,000 men and an observational study from a Wisconsin health system. Since people who are anti-science always assume researchers are for sale if the conclusion is not criticizing medicine, it is noted early on that neither study had any industry funding.
Gene expression, the process by which our DNA provides the recipe used to direct the synthesis of proteins and other molecules, is how we develop and survive.
To-date, science has made breathtaking progress, studying one single gene at a time, but a new approach developed by Harvard geneticist George Church, Ph.D., can help uncover how tandem gene circuits dictate life processes, such as the healthy development of tissue or the triggering of a particular disease, and can also be used for directing precision stem cell differentiation for regenerative medicine and growing organ transplants.
Walmart, Costco and other 'big box stores' or facilities like hospitals could use a fuel cell that runs off the natural gas that already flows in pipelines below city streets and eliminate the electricity 'middle man', which is good for the environment.
Instead of drawing electricity from the power grid, that often ends up being converted from coal, natural gas or nuclear power, facilities could instead go direct and use natural gas-powered solid oxide fuel cells. It would lower their electric costs, increase power reliability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a cost-benefit analysis.
The earliest known record of the genus Homo dates to between 2.8 and 2.75 million years ago, according to an international team.
The Paleo diet is all made up, organic food just accepts one kind of genetic modification in its modern food over another, but booze? Yeah, scientists can really show how that was different in the past.
From light-up shoes to smart watches, wearable electronics are gaining traction among consumers, but these gadgets' versatility is still held back by the stiff, short-lived batteries that are required. These limitations, however, could soon be overcome. In the journal ACS Nano, scientists report the first durable, flexible cloth that harnesses human motion to generate energy.
It can also self-charge batteries or supercapacitors without an external power source and make new commercial and medical applications possible.
Because of the broad nature of autism spectrum disorder and even broader range of autism traits, any number of genetic and environmental influences are associated with risk of it.
Twins studies are valuable in science because at least some of the factors are quantifiable. Though many papers claim genetic influences on the risk of autism and the fuzzy related traits diagnosis, they are drawn from samples of individuals which may miss people with more subtle manifestations and may not represent the broader population. A new paper using UK twins seeks to rectify that.
A review of 31 years of narcissism research using data from more than 475,000 participants finds that men, on average, are more narcissistic than women. Or at least they scored higher in narcissism across multiple generations and regardless of age. Psychology is overwhelmingly dominated by women so it's difficult to know what bias that may introduce into testing - and there is a difference between clinical narcissism and colloquial narcissism, which was not controlled for in the analysis.
The scholars examined more than 355 journal articles, dissertations, manuscripts and technical manuals, and studied gender differences in the three aspects of narcissism: leadership/authority, grandiose/exhibitionism and entitlement.
We have two eyes and each differ in their optical properties - you can easily tell by placing a hand over each and seeing the difference.
As a result of the fits and starts and do-overs in evolution that got us eyes, our vision system results in a blur projected in each retina and then the visual system calibrates itself to give us a clear picture. In the past, researchers had people where glasses where images were upside down. Eventually, our brains compensated and the images were correct - until people took off the glasses.
At the XVI Neutrino Telescopes conference going on this week in Venice there was a nice presentation on the results of the Borexino experiment. The text below is a writeup of the highlights from the talk, given by Cristiano Galbiati from Princeton University.
