Autism is a complex developmental disability that affects a person's ability to communicate and interact with others. It usually appears during the first three years of life. Autism is called a "spectrum disorder" since it affects individuals differently and to varying degrees. It is estimated that one in every 150 American children has some degree of autism.

Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have proposed a new hypothesis about autism, suggesting that the brains of people with autism are structurally normal but dysregulated - meaning symptoms of the disorder might be reversible. 

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University say they have discovered a process that controls the amount of fat that cells store for use as a back-up energy source. Disruption of this process allows cellular fat to accumulate — a key factor in age-related metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Butterflies seem able to both attract mates and ward off predators using different sides of their wings, according to new research in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
 
Trying to find the balance between these two crucial behaviors is one of nature’s oldest dilemmas, according to Jeffrey Oliver, a postdoctoral associate in Yale’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and lead author on the study.

6 out of every 10 university students, regardless their field of study, get anxious when it comes to mathematics, according to a research work carried out at the University of Granada.  There are significant differences between men and women in this sense, as men suffer less anxiety when it comes to deal with mathematical tasks (47% of men against 62% of women).

Is today's academic and corporate culture stifling science's risk-takers and stopping disruptive, revolutionary science from coming to the fore?  Writing in Physics World, Mark Buchanan looks at those who have shifted scientific paradigms and asks what we can do to make sure that those who have the potential to change our outlook on the world also have the opportunity to do so.

A groundbreaking new loudspeaker, less than 0.25mm thick, has been developed by University of Warwick engineers, it's flat, flexible, could be hung on a wall like a picture, and its particular method of sound generation could make public announcements in places like passenger terminals clearer, crisper, and easier to hear. 

All speakers work by converting an electric signal into sound. Usually, the signal is used to generate a varying magnetic field, which in turn vibrates a mechanical cone, so producing the sound.   Lightweight and inexpensive to manufacture, the new 'Flat, Flexible Loudspeaker' (FFL) speakers are slim and flexible: they could be concealed inside ceiling tiles or car interiors, or printed with a design and hung on the wall like a picture.