Some people are smarter than others.   Even in a multicultural world where no one is better and everyone is equally ordinary, we secretly still know that some people are smarter (politically correct disclaimer -  others are just differently intelligent) than other people - but why that is has been a target of neuroscience for as long as it has existed as a discipline.

In a new article in Current Directions in Psychological Science, Eduardo Mercado III from the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, describes how certain aspects of brain structure and function help determine how easily we learn new things, and how learning capacity contributes to individual differences in intelligence.

With as many as 24 million people worldwide afflicted with dementia, researchers are looking for correlations in genetics, diet and environment.

Since many of these people live in low- and middle-income countries, the solution to reducing instances of dementia may be a cost-effective one:  more oily fish , according to a paper in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Medtronic today announced that its Reclaim(R) Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Therapy has received CE (Conformite Europeene) Mark approval for the treatment of chronic, severe treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

This is the first time that a deep brain stimulation therapy has gained approval in Europe for the treatment of a psychiatric disorder.

SentForever are letting people transmit free messages into deep space through their Web site to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

So you can send a message to extraterrestrials at the speed of light, some 670 million miles per hour.   Mapping its progress is cooler than anything you will write in the message.

After 8 minutes the messages pass by the sun and 5 1/2 hours later pass Pluto. In 14 hours the messages overtake the Voyager 1 probe, the most distant man-made object from Earth, launched by NASA in September 1977.

Even in the scramble to get clean energy funding, it's not a bad idea to devote money to research technology that isn't "shovel ready" science and technology, or even available everywhere, but can still help some regions pursue alternative sources that make financial sense.

A new method for capturing significantly more heat from low-temperature geothermal resources holds promise for generating cleaner electrical energy.   Next step: the scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have to determine if their approach can safely and economically extract and convert heat from vast untapped geothermal resources. 

Nintendo is trying to sell you something so they will claim in marketing that Wii 'active' video games are good exercise for kids, but are they really?

Yes, says a new study in the journal Pediatrics, though only if they are the kind of kids who are otherwise sedentary and at high risk for obesity and diabetes.

Scientists at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center found that playing active video games like the Wii can be an effective substitute for moderate exercise.   No one is saying children should stop playing outside or doing real exercise but active video games can be a suitable alternative at times.  Basically, if an obese child is going to sit around and play video games instead of exercising, something is better than nothing.