There is no single advanced area of the human brain that gives it language capabilities above and beyond those of any other animal species, according to a new study in the latest edition of PNAS

Instead, humans rely on several regions of the brain, each designed to accomplish different primitive tasks, in order to make sense of a sentence, the study suggests. Depending on the type of grammar used, the brain will activate a certain set of regions to process it.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an equal opportunity destroyer. It attacks the central nervous system and eventually renders most patients disabled. Among its high-profile victims are celebrated cellist Jacqueline du Pre, whose career was ended by MS, and Joan Didion, one of America's greatest writers — but they are far from alone.

The National MS Society estimates that there are currently about 400,000 cases in the U.S. and more that 2 million suffer from the disease over the world. Although there is currently no cure, a breakthrough finding from a Tel Aviv University scientist and physician may lead to earlier diagnosis, more effective intervention, and perhaps even a cure for the autoimmune disease.

Astronomers have found signatures in X-ray data suggesting that two mid-sized black holes exist close to the center of the nearby starburst galaxy M82, located 12 million light years from Earth.

These "survivor" black holes avoided falling into the center of the galaxy and could be examples of the seeds required for the growth of supermassive black holes in galaxies, including the one in the Milky Way.

For several decades, scientists have had strong evidence for two distinct classes of black hole: the stellar-mass variety with masses about ten times that of the Sun, and the supermassive ones, located at the center of galaxies, that range from hundreds of thousands to billions of solar masses.

A new study of embryonic stem cells shows that mammalian genes may all have a layer of control that acts like the pause button on your DVR, previously thought to be a peculiarity of particular genes.

The research demonstrates that the infamous cancer gene c-Myc plays a major role in the pause release of many genes throughout the genome and may have practical application in the treatment of some of the nastiest cancers.

The findings were reported this week in Cell.

An international team of astrophysicists has just unveiled the most complete atlas of nuclear rings, enormous star-forming ring-shaped regions that circle certain galactic nuclei.

The catalog, just published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, covers 113 nuclear rings in 107 different galaxies. Six are dust rings in elliptical galaxies; the rest are star-forming rings in disc galaxies.

Despite present-day conditions, Antarctica was not always covered with ice. Approximately 53 million years ago, the continent was a warm, sub-tropical environment and atmospheric CO2 levels exceeded today's by ten times.

But in just 400,000 years – a mere blink of an eye in geologic time –  Antarctica's lush environment transitioned into its modern icy realm. Concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide decreased, global temperatures dropped, ice sheets developed and Antarctica became ice-bound.

How did this change happen so abruptly and how stable can we expect ice sheets to be in the future? New ice core data retrieved from the Wilkes Land region of Antarctica may help answer those questions.

Blinking eyes might be a sign of a wandering mind, according to a new study in Psychological Science. Researchers from the University of Waterloo found that when subjects' minds wandered, they blinked more, setting up a tiny physical barrier between themselves and the outside world.

The study was inspired by brain research that shows, when the mind wanders, the parts of the brain that process external goings-on are less active.

A new study of island lizards suggests that geographical isolation may not be as important to evolution as previously thought.

The new research, published in PLoS Genetics, shows that even those lizards that have been geographically isolated for many millions of years have not evolved into separate species as predicted by conventional evolutionary theory.

The findings reject allopatric speciation in a case study from a system thought to exemplify it, the researchers say, and suggest the potential importance of speciation due to differences in ecological conditions (ecological speciation).  

The Light Of Reason

The greatest tool ever invented by kings and dictators was propaganda. 
Disinformation can help to win wars. 


In WW2 the German naval codes were broken at Bletchley.  At about the same time, a new type of radar had been developed to detect surfaced submarines.  The U-boats would run surfaced at night to re-charge their batteries.  The code-breaking allowed allied aircraft to narrow down the search area so that the radar could be deployed more effectively.  An aircraft guided to a search area by good intelligence could be further guided by its on-board radar.  Once over the target the aircraft would switch on its high intensity Leigh light and illuminate the problem.

When Dr. Valerie Paradiz invited me to join the staff of her brainchild school for those on the autism spectrum called the ASPIE School in Boiceville, NY, I was most honored and extremely excited.

The school, one of the first in the nation at the time, provided a setting where twelve males and later one female, all on the autism spectrum including Asperger’s syndrome, would take high school required classes in a supportive environment, as well as being safely mainstreamed into classes with the public high school next door. The ASPIE School operated for three years from 2003-2006.