scientific research

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The Moratorium Was &#39;Unprecedented.&#39; Now It&#39;s Over
The Moratorium
Was 'Unprecedented.'
Now It's Over
the rundown
Dec 19, 2017 2:09 PM CST

The Moratorium Was 'Unprecedented.' Now It's Over

Feds lift ban on funding research into enhanced potential pandemic pathogens

(Newser) - A door that was shut three years ago has been opened, though how far is unclear: In October 2014, the feds put a moratorium on funding studies on germs that could be altered to cause pandemics, or enhanced potential pandemic pathogens. On Tuesday, the National Institutes of Health announced...

Another Hurricane Maria Victim: Monkey Island

It's one of the world's most important sites for primate research

(Newser) - As thousands of troops and government workers struggle to restore normal life to Puerto Rico, a small group of scientists is racing to save more than 1,000 monkeys whose brains may contain clues to some of the most important mysteries of the human mind. One of the first places...

Scientists Discover the Fishy Secret to Surviving Frozen H2O

When oxygen is scarce, a unique process kicks in for goldfish

(Newser) - While it’s a myth that a stiff drink makes you warmer in cold weather, a new study found that alcohol is the very reason some fish survive frozen conditions. Per the BBC , goldfish and crucian carp developed the ability to survive months in icy lakes and ponds using the...

Think Booze Is Your Muse? Scientists Think You're Right

Scientists speculate that alcohol could help us fixate less, move past creative blocks

(Newser) - People who claim to be more creative after a pint may be onto something after all, according to researchers studying the age-old assumption. A team at the University of Graz in Austria reports in the journal Consciousness and Cognition that among the 132 young adults they studied, the ones who...

Kissing the &#39;Right&#39; Way: Most of Us Don&#39;t Go Left
Kissing the 'Right' Way:
Most of Us Don't Go Left
NEW STUDY
Jul 19, 2017 11:00 AM CDT

Kissing the 'Right' Way: Most of Us Don't Go Left

New research suggests this tendency might be innate

(Newser) - Dig if you will the picture: two people engaged in a kiss. Prince sang about "curious poses," but new research suggests that most of us may strike similar poses, leaning to the right instead of the left when kissing the lips of our partners. Researchers at the University...

These Are Our Most Common Secrets
These Are Our
Most Common Secrets
new study
Jun 3, 2017 8:00 AM CDT

These Are Our Most Common Secrets

But thinking about them alone is tougher on us than concealing them from others

(Newser) - Everyone has secrets. But new research suggests that it is the very act of having them, and being alone with one's thoughts about them, that takes a toll, as opposed to the idea of keeping them from others being the most harmful aspect of secrets. As lead researcher Michael...

There&#39;s a Simple Reason Blue Whales Got So Huge
There's a Simple Reason
Blue Whales Got So Huge
new study
May 24, 2017 9:06 AM CDT

There's a Simple Reason Blue Whales Got So Huge

They pigged out on fish: study

(Newser) - Scientists think they've figured out why the biggest whales—those of the baleen variety, including blue whales—got so big. As they explain in a study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B , the researchers found that these behemoths didn't really become behemoths until about 4.5 million...

We Are Most Attracted to the Faces Around Us
We Are Most Attracted
to the Faces Around Us
new study
May 19, 2017 12:04 PM CDT

We Are Most Attracted to the Faces Around Us

'Beauty is in the faces of those we behold'

(Newser) - All parents know their kids are the most mind-bogglingly beautiful creatures they've ever seen. But this bias for beauty appears to extend beyond one's offspring to the faces of those we see the most. Researchers report in the journal Human Nature that people tend to prefer choosing mates...

Creationist Sues Grand Canyon for Religious Discrimination

He wants to take rocks out of the park to study further, NPS declined request

(Newser) - Somewhere between 15% and 40% of Americans believe our planet is only 10,000 years old, in spite of the literal heaps of evidence that it is far older. One such American, young-Earth creationist Andrew Snelling, is suing the National Park Service for not letting him remove rocks from the...

Cursing Makes You Stronger
Need Strength? Try Cursing
new study
May 8, 2017 8:05 AM CDT

Need Strength? Try Cursing

Study finds that people perform better in physical tests if they swear

(Newser) - When you need a little extra oomph during a workout, try swearing. Researchers from the UK's Keele University report via the British Psychological Society that people perform better on tests of physical endurance when they curse. Specifically, 29 people around age 21 took part in a cycling test, and...

For First Time in 11 Years, Paralyzed Man Moves His Arm

Brain implants allow him to control his right arm through thoughts

(Newser) - Recent advances in brain-spine interface technology have so excited the scientists working to restore the abilities of quadriplegics and others that they've actually screamed at the results . Now, the team working on a device known as BrainGate2 at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center is...

Scientists Recreate Female Reproductive System in Lab

They hope to study endometriosis, fibroids, cancer, and more

(Newser) - Scientists have created a device that mimics the female reproductive cycle, hailing it as a breakthrough in the study of diseases that affect hundreds of millions of women and girls around the world. Reporting in the journal Nature Communications , researchers at Northwestern University and beyond note that their "microfluidic...

Tribe to Scientists: We Have Ethical Rules for You

Much-studied San people want respect from researchers

(Newser) - The San people of South Africa, an indigenous group often called "bushmen" by Westerners, have been the subject of countless scientific investigations into everything from their rituals and click languages to their genomes. Now the San are asking for something in return: Respect. They've published a code of...

Study: Older Mothers Raise More Emotionally Secure Kids

Their kids have fewer emotional and behavioral problems

(Newser) - Doctors have long warned women about the physical risks of having children later in life, but a team of scientists out of Denmark is reporting in the European Journal of Developmental Psychology that there are also benefits to rearing children later in life, and these benefits tend to be emotional....

Scientists Have a Theory on Why You Break Eye Contact

Blame an overworked brain, suggests study

(Newser) - Researchers in Japan suggest there's a surprising neurological reason why people avert their gaze occasionally during conversation. Reporting in the journal Cognition , they write that eye contact actually "disrupts resources available to cognitive control processes during verb generation." In other words, when you need to come up...

A Discovery About Memory Could Help the Mentally Ill

Scientists have a new view on 'working memory'

(Newser) - Scientists have a new theory about how the brain processes memories, one that holds the promise—someday—of helping those with depression and other mental illnesses. The study out of the University of Wisconsin focused on working memory, which covers immediate stuff like new phone numbers or where we left...

Smartphone Residue Says a Lot About You—Really, a Lot

Contains clues about gender, diet, health, hygiene, location, pets, and more

(Newser) - Much like our keyboards, our smartphones are anything but clean. So researchers at UC San Diego decided to analyze the molecules on a handful of them and see what they could deduce about the phone's owners—and it turned out to be a whole lot. They swabbed four sections...

Military May Boost Soldier Performance With Brain Stimulation

Seen as safer alternative to prescription drugs

(Newser) - Air crew, drone operators, and other personnel serving in the military's most demanding roles may soon get a non-pharmacological boost: brain stimulation. Devices that use five electrodes to shoot weak currents into very specific targets in the cortex have performed very well in studies investigating performance under pressure, boosting...

Think Rideshares Minimize Racism? Study: Think Again

It's not just taxi drivers who pick up fewer African-Americans

(Newser) - Research has suggested that Uber and the like are helping to alleviate some of the discrimination that runs rampant among taxi drivers—but a new study involving roughly 1,500 trips in Seattle and Boston may be casting some rain on that parade. Published by the National Bureau of Economic...

The Bubbles in Seltzer Water Are Tricking You
The Bubbles
in Seltzer Water
Are Tricking You
new study
Oct 29, 2016 1:19 PM CDT

The Bubbles in Seltzer Water Are Tricking You

Study finds people feel more quenched after drinking carbonated water

(Newser) - If you're feeling uncomfortably thirsty, you may want to grab a La Croix, or so suggests a new study that looks at the "Perception of Drinking and Thirst Quenching in Thirsty Adults." Science Daily explains the assumption that rehydration alleviates thirst isn't really true: "In...

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