An analysis of pregnant mothers found that children appear to be less at risk for developing peanut or tree nut allergies if their mothers are not allergic and ate more nuts during pregnancy.

In the United States, the prevalence of childhood peanut allergy has more than tripled from 0.4 percent in 1997 to 1.4 percent in 2010. That corresponds with medical recommendations that mothers eat fewer nuts.

Zaballa (Iruña de Oca) was a medieval settlement abandoned in the 15th century due to urban flight. Prior to that it had a manor monastery and later became something of a specialized factory location before its demise. 

Zaballa is one of the more than 300 deserted settlements known in Alava-Araba - rural spaces abandoned in historical times but now being studied by the UPV/EHU's Cultural Heritage and Landscapes Research Group.  

Sometimes you just have to believe.

Acupuncture has proven to be effective, though it isn't actually being done. When it comes to hot flashes due to breast cancer treatment, even skin pricks used to simulate acupuncture needle sticks might be enough to generate natural chemicals that improve symptoms, which would explain the results.  

The results were that both real and sham weekly acupuncture treatments eased hot flashes and other side effects of anticancer drug treatment, according to the small, preliminary study of breast cancer patients.

Physics can give pointers for energy saving and an can provide materials scientists with tips for the development of high-temperature superconductors.

 Nearly two percent of the electrical energy generated by power stations is lost in the grid. In Germany, for example, this is equivalent to the power delivered by a medium-sized coal power plant. With the fad of windfarms, these losses will increase in the future as power from large offshore energy is transported to the landlocked south.

Cranky old people might think that mellow crooning is less damaging to the voice than beatboxing, with its harsh, high-energy percussive sounds.

Not so, according to a paper in the Journal of Voice.  Beatboxing may be harder on the ears, that is why Michael Bublé gets more downloads than Killa Kela, but it may actually be gentler on vocal cords, which are already injury-prone. His findings were published Dec. 23 online in the Journal of Voice.

The assumption has long been that if mercury is increasing in fish in the North American and European Arctic, the same is true of fish elsewhere in the Arctic.

Not so, according to conservation scientists from the U.S., Russia, and Canada.  Atmospheric mercury comes largely from mining and ore processing, such as smelting, according to United Nations analyses. Under certain water conditions, through the process called methylation, mercury is converted to methylmercury, a special form that can be absorbed by living organisms. Methylmercury is highly toxic.

A new paper studied if the excitability of the motor cortex correlates with working memory performance – and results were positive. 

By measuring the motor excitability, conclusions can be drawn as to general cortical excitability – as well as to cognitive performance, say the scholars from the Transfacultary Research Platform at the University of Basel.

Working memory allows the temporary storage of information such as memorizing a phone number for a short period of time. Studies in animals have shown that working memory processes among others depend on the excitability of neurons in the prefrontal cortex. There is some evidence that motor neuronal excitability might be related to the neuronal excitability of other cortical regions. 

In every country, centralized government is funded by mandatory public taxation and that means a layer of bureaucracy to go after tax evaders.

It can obviously be good for the community - people get along better when they aren't micromanaging the finances of police and fire stations on a monthly basis. And in small communities, self-policing is easy. Everyone knows who the cheats are.

If you are an avid gamer who can't be bothered with cooking Christmas dinner, or a hipster who wants to cynically consume packaged food while watching bad movies, there is a good news.

The Christmas Tinner is 9 layers of processed food in a can, meals to cover the entire day - including breakfast, turkey and even Christmas pudding. There’s even a broccoli alternative if the sprouts are the worst thing you can find in this idea.

Kingston University third-year graphic designer Chris Godfrey claims to have processed the food and sealed it with gelatin, placing each layer in the tin one at a time. All the gamer has to do is open and eat.

As I’ve mentioned on other occasions, my most recent effort in philosophy of science actually concerns what my collaborator Maarten Boudry and I call the philosophy of pseudoscience. During a recent discussion we had with some of the contributors to our book at the recent congress of the European Philosophy of Science Association, Maarten came up with the idea of the pseudoscience black hole. Let me explain.