A team of researchers have built the world's first sonic tractor beam that can lift and move objects using sound waves. Tractor beams can grab and lift objects, a concept that has been used by science-fiction writers and has since fascinated scientists and engineers.

Researchers have now built a working tractor beam that uses high-amplitude sound waves to generate an acoustic hologram which can pick up and move small objects. 

Recent negative publicity surrounding police after several shootings of civilians appears to have diminished the motivation of some police officers but did not decrease their willingness to carry out their duties, according to a new psychology paper.

This is in contrast to recent comments by FBI Director James Comey, who attributed the rise in homicides in some cities to police apprehension at the prospect of cellphone videos and the possibility that such recordings could go viral. As a result, he claimed, some police may be reluctant to engage in face-to-face encounters in their communities. 

Alcohol and nicotine use have long been known to go hand in hand but other than a commonality in reckless behavior, the reasons why have been speculation.  

Previous surveys have shown that more than 85 percent of U.S. adults who are alcoholics also smoke cigarettes. Now, researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine have found that nicotine cancels out the sleep-inducing effects of alcohol, which they believe sheds light on the reason alcohol and nicotine usage are so closely linked.

During the most recent study, rats were fitted with sleep-recording electrodes and given alcohol and nicotine. The researchers found that nicotine acts via the basal forebrain to suppress the sleep-inducing effects of alcohol.

Discovering possible new forces in nature is no easy task. To discover the secret of gravity, the public thinks it took an apple falling from a tree, but really it took him inventing Calculus. linked to Newton's arguably apocryphal apple experiment has remained anchored in popular culture.

In January 1986, Ephraim Fischbach, Physics Professor from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, claimed the hypothetical possibility of the existence of a fifth force in the universe and it has spurred a tremendous amount of research in gravitational physics even though its existence, as initially formulated, has not been confirmed by experiment.

Autism is a group of complex brain developmental disorders characterized by impairments in social interaction, communication, and stereotypical and repetitive behaviors. The diagnosed incidence is estimated to be one in 68 children and effective interventions remain limited.

Behavioral therapies can improve social, emotional and behavioral impairments but these are typically time consuming (40 hours per week), remain costly and show mixed outcomes. There is currently no medical treatment for these problems.

A five week treatment with the synthetic hormone oxytocin significantly improved social, emotional and behavioral issues among young children with autism, according to a recent study. 

Approximately five percent of people suffers an epileptic attack, during which the nerve cells get out of their usual rhythm and fire in a very rapid frequency, over the course of their lives. This results in seizures and such synchronous discharges in the brain occur most frequently in the temporal lobe.

Often, a seizure disorder develops after a delay following transient brain damage - for example due to injury or inflammation. So-called ion channels are involved in the transfer of signals in the brain; these channels act like a doorman to regulate the entry of calcium ions in the nerve cells.