This Week: Holy horseradish! Ancient roots of pain
In the News: Fertilizing the ocean
Changes in the junctions between nerve cells determine how well a bird will learn to sing. Regular change in these junctions helps the bird remember the song of its species, which it needs to learn to reproduce that song. Study could explain why older people have such trouble learning a new language.
The long rise may be inflated by redefinition of autism, social acceptance of the disabled and desire for services. If this is a real epidemic, it’s even more critical to find the cause.
Why do women have better sense of touch? It’s all in the size, and big isn’t better…
MRI scans of older people show major differences between searchers and non-searchers. After seven hours of Internet experience, those differences disappear. Honest? Could changing the brain be this easy?
How many dead? Research and real-life experience prove that people die when drivers pick up the cellphone. Even worse: texting on the road!
As the day wears on, both sleep pressure and the brain’s alerting signal rise, until sleep pressure triumphs. [Nod]. New brain study explains why night owls don’t get as sleepy during the day.
Disgust caused by filthy food, feces, and an unfair deal all trigger the same facial expression. So is our moral disgust the same as the primitive disgust caused by toxic food?
Study finds that holding a warm cup of coffee for a few seconds can make us see other people as warmer, more outgoing. How come?
A single neuron in the brain may deliver enough information to control a muscle. These results could eventually help bypass the spinal cord, allowing paralyzed people to control their own muscles.
Biology operates on the nanometer scale, and now ultra-small technology is producing monster benefits for genetic analysis, cell biologists, and the treatment of blinding glaucoma.