Newsdesk Archive
AN award-winning professor from the University has followed in the footsteps of Indiana Jones by cracking the code of a 600 year old manuscript, deemed as 'the most mysterious' document in the world.Stephen Bax, Professor of Applied Linguistics, has just become the first professional linguist to crack the code of the Voynich manuscript using an analytical approach.
Should weed be part of AIDS prevention? Daily marijuana use by the HIV-positive could block them from infecting others, the Daily Beast reports.
We can, thankfully, remove one threat to the future existence of the human male from our worry list: The male Y chromosome, after dwindling from its original robust size over millions of years, apparently has halted its disappearing act.
What's the matter--cat bite your hand? After combing through the health records of 1.3 million people over 10 years, researchers found an unusual link between cat bites and depression. More than 41 percent of those who had presented to hospitals with cat bites were also treated for depression at some point. Furthermore, 86 percent of the people that had been both bitten and diagnosed with depression were women.
Scientists in Germany said Wednesday they had made the most precise measurement yet of the mass of the electron, one of the building blocks of matter.The feat should provide a useful tool for scientists testing the "Standard Model" of physics -- the most widely-accepted theory of the particles and forces that comprise the Universe, they said.
By figuring out the timing and rate of the world's most massive extinction 252 million years ago, scientists hope to figure out how such lethal events work.
Synthetic chemicals which are used in the processing, packaging and storing of the food we eat could be doing long-term damage to our health, environmental scientists warn.The concerns have been raised in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, part of the British Medical Journal group.
Scientists have discovered a potential molecular link between Irisin, a recently identified hormone released from muscle after bouts of exercise, and the aging process. Irisin, which is naturally present in humans, is capable of reprograming the body's fat cells to burn energy instead of storing it.
Calico cats, with their funky mix of orange, black and white fur, could one day help humans to lose weight.Couch potato kitties hardly seem suited to the task, but the connection comes from their unique chromosome structure, according to research presented today at the 58th Annual Biophysical Society Meeting in San Francisco.
A house cat's bizarre antics may be more than just feline folly. The kitty may be seeing things that human eyes can't.Unlike humans, many animals see in ultraviolet, and a study now suggests that cats, dogs and other mammals can, too. Knowing these animals see things invisible to humans could shed some light on the animals' behavior, the researchers say.
Glowing reindeer can be spotted in northern Finland thanks to a reflective spray which makes them more visible in a bid to prevent car accidents, Finnish reindeer breeders said on Tuesday."We are hoping that it is so useful that we can use the spray in the entire region and on all reindeer, from young to old," said Anne Ollila, head of Finland's Reindeer Herders' Association.
Elephants, both African and Asian, have long been considered empathetic animals. They help baby elephants stuck in mud holes, use their trunks to lift other elephants that are injured or dying, and even reportedly reassure distressed individual elephants with a gentle touch of their trunk.What is an elephant handshake? (+video)
Grapevines can't grow zits, but they do carry bacteria related to the acne-causing pathogen found on human skin, according to a new report describing the first known case of a bacterium transferring from a human to a plant.The bacteria species Propionibacterium acnes plagues the skin of humans worldwide, and has always been thought of as an exclusively human-seeking pathogen.
Want to convince someone of something? Make up a rhyme. They may think it's cutesy, but they'll still believe it more readily than if it were stated plainly. At least until they are asked to think about it a little.
The next Russian-style meteor strike may come as a complete surprise, and maybe that's OK. A study of a potential early-warning system has found that it will miss more than half of incoming space rocks the size of the one that burst apart above Chelyabinsk, Russia, a year ago. However, the chances of such a meteor causing a dangerous impact are so low that catch-all warning systems are not worth the cost.
Let's rewind the clock. Before humans existed, before Earth formed, before the sun ignited, before galaxies arose, before light could even shine, there was the Big Bang. This happened 13.8 billion years ago.
The possibility of building an underground "atom-smasher" four times the size of the Large Hadron Collider is to be explored by experts.The decision follows a high level meeting of scientists last week in Geneva, near the European particle physics centre, Cern.
Last night, a giant asteroid was supposed to streak by the Earth, close enough for us to catch a glimpse as it zipped by. Except it never showed, and now astronomers say they have no idea just where the 900-foot asteroid has gone.
Paleontologists led by Dr Xiao-Chun Wu from Canadian Museum of Nature say they have discovered a new genus and species of reptile that lived in what is now China during the middle Triassic, between 247 and 242 million years ago.
A team of paleontologists led by Dr Guan-bao Chen of Anhui Geological Museum, China, says a newly discovered fossil of a Mesozoic ichthyosaur reveals the earliest live reptile birth.
Scientists have made an impassioned plea for humanity to pause and think before making a headlong rush to exploit the deep sea.The researchers said the oceans' lowest reaches had untold riches that could benefit mankind enormously, but not if the harvesting were done destructively.Related: Dolphins 'suffering miscarriage, lung disease, losing teeth after BP oil spill' researchers claim
Fish on bleached coral reefs are fearless. Instead of staying hidden at home, they stray out, making them easy prey for predators.Coral reefs are rich ecosystems, home to thousands of animals. But if the water gets too warm, the corals expel the algae that live in them, leaving them bleached and sometimes killing them.
One of science's strongest dogmas is that complex life on Earth could only evolve when oxygen levels in the atmosphere rose to close to modern levels. But now studies of a small sea sponge fished out of a Danish fjord shows that complex life does not need high levels of oxygen in order to live and grow.
Having a Democratic president in the United States is linked with a reduction in infant mortality rates, according to a controversial new study.Researchers analyzed U.S. infant mortality rates from 1965 to 2010, a period that spans nine presidencies (four Democratic and five Republican).
Mothers may say they don't care whether they have a son or a daughter, but their breast milk says otherwise."Mothers are producing different biological recipes for sons and daughters," says Katie Hinde, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University.
I have to admit, I melt at the creaminess of full-fat yogurt.It's an indulgence that we're told to resist. And I try to abide. (Stealing a bite of my daughter's YoBaby doesn't count, does it?
A team of researchers led by Melba Ketchum, a Texas veterinarian, claims to have not only conclusively proven the existence of Bigfoot through genetic testing, but also that the mysterious monster is a half-human hybrid, the result of mating with modern human females about 15,000 years ago.Related: U.S. scientist claims to have found DNA of bigfoot - but is CHARGING to see her results (in a journal she set up)
They are the miracle pills that shouldn't really do anything. Placebos come in all shapes and sizes, but they contain no active ingredient. And yet, mysteriously, they often seem to work.Over the last couple of decades, there has been a huge amount of research into what dummy pills can do and how they work.
In the 1993 film Jurassic Park, miners discover a mosquito entombed in a red-yellow substance, supposedly carrying the DNA of long-extinct dinosaurs, waiting to be revived by modern scientists. It's a dramatic moment, but as recent events have shown, amber's real-life exploits are so much more interesting.
Before volcanoes erupt, they must "defrost". The magma beneath some of the world's most dangerous volcanoes might be relatively cool and solid for more than 99 per cent of the time. That means evidence that it has warmed up and melted could be a sign of an imminent eruption.
The faint background glow that exists throughout the Universe, called the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), is made of photons that have been scattering since the universe was just 400,000 years old. Now in a new paper, physicist Liang Dai at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, has shown that the polarization of these photons is rotated as they travel by things such as gravity waves and cosmic matter flows.
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is the left-over heat from the Big Bang. This radiation provides a picture of the universe when it was only 400,000 years old. Now, 14 billion years later, it has cooled to microwave frequencies and is nearly uniform. The slight variations of 1 part in 100,000 in its temperature reflect initial inhomogeneities in the matter and radiation that later collapsed to form clusters and galaxies.
More than 400 years after its discovery by Galileo, the largest moon in the solar system has finally been mapped.The first geological map of an icy outer-planet moon ever created, it reveals a 'dual landscape'.One part is made up of complex grooves and ridges, while a second area is highly cratered.
As the anniversary of last year's surprise Russian meteor explosion nears, a United Nations action team is taking steps to thwart dangerous space rocks, including setting up a warning network and a planning advisory group that would coordinate a counterpunch to cosmic threats.
JUST days after the anniversary of the Chelyabinsk meteor that injured 1,000 when the spectacular fireball burst over Russia, a massive asteroid is set to flash past Earth.The trajectory of the 270m diameter near-Earth asteroid, named 2000 EM26, has been analysed and it will pose no threat to our planet as it whizzes past at 12.37km per second late today.
The most destructive weapon humanity has ever developed could help our species avoid going the way of the dinosaurs.Pretty much any asteroid that poses a threat to Earth can be blasted out of the heavens using a nuclear bomb, even with warning times of a week or less, say a team of scientists who have been developing the idea.
Human remains dug up from an ancient grave in Oxfordshire add to a growing body of evidence that Britain's fifth-century transition from Roman to Anglo-Saxon was cultural rather than bloody.The traditional historical narrative is one of brutal conquest, with invaders from the North wiping out and replacing the pre-existing population.
Very little is truly known of the ancient Celts who left no written records. The names of many of the gods worshipped by them are known through Latin or Gallo-Latin inscriptions made in late pre-Roman and Roman times.
Electric fish from South America are opening up new ideas in robotics.Ghost knifefish, as they are known, put a small current through the water to sense their environment, and undulate a long fin to move around.
Loneliness can be twice as unhealthy as obesity, according to researchers who found that feelings of isolation can have a devastating impact on older people.
Maternal exposure to alcohol in-utero is a known risk and cause of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). FAS children suffer significant problems such as retarded intellect, stunted growth and nervous system abnormalities, social problems and isolation. Until now, fathers have not had a causal link to such disabilities.
A meta-analysis of research on changes in mate preferences across the menstrual cycle suggests that ovulating women have evolved to prefer mates who display sexy traits, such as a masculine body type, dominant behavior, certain body odors and masculine facial features, rather than traits that are generally desirable in a long-term mate.
Speaking directly to a baby or reading a bedtime story has a direct impact on how well they will do in school and possibly their career in later life, according to child psychologists who warned against using TVs and iPads as babysitters.
Two public health experts warned Saturday about the stunting effects that a wide array of industrial chemicals, including toothpaste ingredient fluoride, may be having on child brain development, in a report some called alarmist.
With the possible exception of 'is the earth flat?' it is (according to Discover magazine at least) the most basic question in science: 'does the earth orbit the sun?'The good news is that 74 per cent of Americans know the answer.The very bad news is that means 26 per cent really don't.
Some animals, like humans, can sense and respond to a musical beat, a finding that has implications for understanding how the skill evolved, scientists said on Saturday.A study of bonobos, closely related to chimpanzees, shows they have an innate ability to match tempo and synchronize a beat with human experimenters.
New findings confirm marijuana could be helpful for patients suffering from arthritis.Published last month in the journal Rheumatology, the study reveals more evidence of how marijuana fights inflammation of the joints.It seems to do this by activating pathways known as CB2 receptors, which are present at abnormally high levels in the joint tissues of arthritis patients.
In a former colonial mansion in Jamaica, politicians huddle to discuss trying to ease marijuana laws in the land of the late reggae musician and cannabis evangelist Bob Marley. In Morocco, one of the world's top producers of the concentrated pot known as hashish, two leading political parties want to legalize its cultivation, at least for medical and industrial use.
New research suggests that the main system that helps determine the weather over Northern Europe and North America may be changing.The study shows that the so-called jet stream has increasingly taken a longer, meandering path.
Communication is vital to any successful relationship. Researchers have discovered how the beneficial bacteria in our guts communicate with our own cells. This is a key step in understanding how our bodies maintain a close relationship with the population of gut bacteria that plays crucial roles in maintaining our health, fighting infection and digesting our food.
After 26 years of workdays spent watching bacteria multiply, Richard Lenski has learned a thing or two.He's learned that naturalist Charles Darwin was wrong about some things. For one, evolution doesn't always occur in steps so slow and steady that changes can't be observed.
Afghanistan has halted conservation work at a site once occupied by ancient Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban because the team involved is suspected of secretly trying to rebuild one of the statue's feet, the United Nations said.Any attempt to rebuild the statues without official permission could lead to the site losing its World Heritage status.
Quebec provincial police have found an ancient artifact in Edmonton after it was stolen in broad daylight from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.Police have been searching for more than two years for two pieces of art, which were stolen from the museum in September 2011.
The flesh of the death cap mushroom is said to be quite tasty, and many who have eaten it claim it is the most delicious they've ever tasted. But it is also deadly, as the name suggests--a few mouthfuls can kill.There is currently no good treatment for poisoning from death cap mushrooms (Amanita phalloides), writes Harvard doctoral student Cat Adams at Slate. But that may be about to change.
Onions and garlic can turn around a bland dish, but Indian biotechnologists have found another use for these roots: filtering heavy metals from toxic brews.
Dirty diesel is the most common form of electricity generation throughout Caribbean island nations, but that will change if billionaire Richard Branson has anything to do with it.Branson is using his private island in the British Virgin Islands, Necker Island, as a test bed for a microgrid that will run on renewable generation. The project on Necker, which is supported by NRG Energy, is not just an exercise in bringing renewables to the region at any cost. It aims to make renewables affordable to island economies.
Scientists predict that by the end of the century, U.S. urban and suburban areas will have expanded by an area about the size of South Dakota. That's an awful lot of blacktop, adding to scientists' worries that the growth of cities could increase global warming, in part because of the way a city absorbs heat. But a new study has found that cool roofs, those painted with reflective materials, and green roofs (those with plants on them) could counteract this warming.
This new method could help researchers remotely count and keep track of whale populationsCounting tends to be at the base of any ecological study. Knowing how many animals and of what kinds live in a particular habitat is essential for understanding the relationships between them.
Baby formula should be tailored for boys and girls to reflect the differences in milk that mothers produce depending on their baby's sex, researchers say.Tests on mothers' milk in both monkeys and humans have showed that levels of fat, protein, vitamins, sugars, minerals and hormones vary enormously, but there is evidence that milk made for female and male babies is consistently different.
While the television industry has begun catering to impatient audiences by releasing entire series at once, the book business is upending its traditional timetable by encouraging a kind of binge reading, releasing new works by a single author at an accelerated pace.
Raindrops are shaped like teardrops, right? The idea of the teardrop-shaped raindrop has persisted in popular culture, but it is actually not true. That's according to a video, created by a NASA mission, revealing the anatomy of a raindrop.
It's an argument that's persisted for nearly four centuries: Where does the Amazon River begin?The question is complicated by the number of tributaries that feed into it, with at least five Peruvian rivers grabbing the title at some point since the mid-1600s.
A swarm of miniature robots acting independently of one another but cooperating as a group to build the same structure has been developed by scientists who were inspired by the team effort of termite colonies that build 8-foot mud towers above their nests. They believe that robotic swarms could one day be used to help build a space base on Mars.Related: Will your next home be built by robot termites?
The brain responds to mathematical beauty in the same way that it does to music and art, according to new research conducted by a team from University College London.After analysing the reactions of 15 mathematicians to formulae through brain imaging, researchers found that the brain reacts similarly to seeing a beautiful equation as it does to magnificent art or music.
Time was when a roof over your head, food on the table and occasional bouts of sexual activity were the hallmarks of a successful marriage. Not any more. According to a US psychologist, the modern marriage must fulfil far deeper demands, and most couples are struggling to cope.
About 1.5 billion people worldwide are clinically overweight. Given the dearth of good treatments for obesity -- there are only three drugs approved for weight loss, many with significant side effects -- perhaps we need to explore new avenues for ways to shed the fat. Kevin Corbit, a researcher at Washington State University, writes in the New York Times that grizzly bears may offer an answer.
As the fight against global warming heats up, scientists around the world are in pursuit of ways to generate natural gas without compromising the environment and human health. But what if there were a way to separate and capture carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas and major contributor to global warming, before it even had a chance to wreak havoc?.
Take 300,000 computer-controlled mirrors, each 7 feet high and 10 feet wide. Control them with computers to focus the Sun's light to the top of 459-foot towers, where water is turned into steam to power turbines. Bingo: you have the world's biggest solar power plant, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System.
Two teams, both in Singapore have created two different types of thermal cloaking devices. In their papers, both published in Physical Review Letters, the teams describe how they went about creating their devices and offer suggestions as to what use they might be put.
For the first time, scientists have placed tiny motors inside living human cells and steered them magnetically.The advance represents another step towards molecular machines that can be used, for example, to release drugs into specific locations within the body.
The device, which looks like a sock made of cybernetic muscle sinews, uses pneumatics to augment the strength of patients' ankles. While most such devices are bulky, this one eschews a rigid exoskeleton in favor of more nimble materials that could allow more flexibility.
Where's the fish? The fish is out for a drive.A company called Studio diip has created a mobile aquarium that can be "driven" by a fish. The four-wheeled device has a digital camera mounted above that can recognize which part of the tank the animal is in and the direction it's swimming, and then drives in that direction.
A new fossil that captures both birth and death reveals the earliest ancestors of the giant prehistoric sea predators called ichthyosaurs birthed their babies headfirst, according to a new study.The fossil of an ancient Chaohusaurus mother that likely died while in labor also suggests that reptilian live birth only evolved on land, researchers report today (Feb. 12) in the journal PLOS ONE.
A conference on archaeoacoustices, taking place on Malta beginning Feb. 19th, will bring together experts and researchers from around the world to study and survey the acoustical and electromagnetic energy properties of the ancient temples on Malta.http://www.otsf.org/conference.htm
A Spanish-Egyptian archeological team working on Luxor's west bank has discovered a rare wooden human-shaped sarcophagus from the 17th dynasty.The find came during routine excavation work at the tomb of Djehuty, treasure holder for Queen Hatshepsut, at Dra Abul-Naga necropolis.
Britons embraced a "convenience food" lifestyle around 6,000 years ago when they replaced hunting and fishing with dairy farming, scientists say.Studies of old rubbish dumps and dirty dishes found our ancient ancestors gave up their passion for fish and wild meats to begin a love affair with milk.
A study of gay men in the US has found fresh evidence that male sexual orientation is influenced by genes. Scientists tested the DNA of 400 gay men and found that genes on at least two chromosomes affected whether a man was gay or straight.
The bones of the king under the car park have more to tell: scientists are to analyse the DNA from the remains of Richard III to create the world's first complete genome sequence for a named historical figure.The process could reveal his hair and eye colour, his susceptibility to conditions including Alzheimer's disease and diabetes, whether he was lactose intolerant, and whether the scoliosis that contorted his spine was genetic.
Lost for centuries, a rare bronze statue of the Greek god Apollo has mysteriously resurfaced in the Gaza Strip, only to be seized by police and vanish almost immediately from view.Word of the remarkable find has caught the imagination of the world of archaeology, but the police cannot say when the life-sized bronze might re-emerge or where it might be put on display.
Colorful feathers and pelts exploded on the scene soon after early birds and mammals evolved feathers and fur more than 150 million years ago, suggest researchers in a study of both fossils and living creatures.Related: Dinosaur colour prediction not so easy
Corn, a crop that is farmed on every continent except for Antarctica, looks very little like its ancestor, a wild grass with hard kernels that grows today in southwestern Mexico and is called teosinte.
In 1908 a blazing white line cut across the sky before exploding a few miles above the ground with a force one thousand times stronger than the nuclear blast that leveled Hiroshima, Japan.The resulting shock wave felled trees across more than 800 square miles in the remote forests of Tunguska, Siberia.
The rapid conversion of natural lands to cement-dominated urban centers is causing great losses in biodiversity. Yet, according to a new study involving 147 cities worldwide, surprisingly high numbers of plant and animal species persist and even flourish in urban environments -- to the tune of hundreds of bird species and thousands of plant species in a single city.
The dream of detecting every potentially dangerous near Earth asteroid could be a step closer to reality, thanks to a new technique called synthetic tracking.A report in the Astrophysical Journal, claims the system, which combines high-speed computers and low-noise cameras, has the potential to find every near Earth object down to 10 metres in size.
At the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in Long Island, New York, scientists study high-speed ion collisions that reveal what the universe may have looked like moments after the Big Bang. RHIC is the second-highest-energy heavy-ion collider in the world, after the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and currently the only operating particle collider in the US.
Researchers at a laboratory in California say they've had a breakthrough in producing fusion reactions with a giant laser. The success comes after years of struggling to get the laser to work and is another step in the decades-long quest for fusion energy.
Scientists in Europe may have found a way for struggling artists to gain more respect: act weird. In a study published last month, researchers from the UK found that people tend to hold a higher opinion of a piece of art if the artist behind it is perceived to be eccentric, suggesting that at least in some cases, preconceived notions wield significant influence over reactions to art itself.
It seems simple: People are more likely to cooperate if everyone plays fair. But a new study suggests that fairness itself arises from an unlikely source: spite. Researchers made a mathematical model based on the so-called ultimatum game.
A gene which may make people more intelligent has been discovered by scientists.Researchers have found that teenagers who had a highly functioning NPTN gene performed better in intelligence tests.
A 35-year-old tea picker in Alipurduar, India, is getting tailed by followers every day -- mainly because the 14.5-inch tail growing out of his back makes them think he's a living god.Chandre Oraon has had his tail since birth and some Hindus believe it's a sign he's an incarnation of a monkey god known as "Hanuman," Barcroft TV reported.
People who live in colder climates have a gut bacteria profile associated with obesity, new research has found.The findings might one day have implications for personalised medicine, says lead author, Taichi Suzuki, a PhD student from the University of California Berkeley's Integrative Biology department.
When most people envision crocodiles and alligators, they think of them waddling on the ground or wading in water -- not climbing trees. However, a new study has found that the reptiles can climb trees as far as the crowns.
In the winter, brown and black bears go into hibernation to conserve energy and keep warm.But things are different for their Arctic relative, the polar bear. Within this high-latitude species, only pregnant females den up for the colder months.
Bedrock influences forests and landscape evolution much more than was previously thought, according to a study by University of Wyoming scientists published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Alpine bumblebees have the ability to fly at elevations greater than Mt. Everest, scientists have found.Bumblebees cannot survive the freezing conditions of Mt. Everest's peak. But researchers based at the University of California, Berkley simulated the low oxygen and low air density conditions of such high elevations to determine the limits of the bumblebee's flight capacity, and found the bees were capable of staying afloat at remarkably inhospitable elevations.
Aggression-causing genes appeared early in animal evolution and have maintained their roles for millions of years and across many species, even though animal aggression today varies widely from territorial fighting to setting up social hierarchies, according to researchers from Iowa State University, Penn State and Grand Valley State University.
Once the snow melts, bees will be back in business -- pollinating, making honey and keeping busy doing bee things. For at least two urban bee species, that means making nests out of plastic waste. A new study reveals that some bees use bits of plastic bags and plastic building materials to construct their nests.
A 13th-century Viking code that has eluded scholars was finally cracked by a runologist working at the University of Oslo. So, what was the secret message? "Kiss me."K. Jonas Nordby is the PhD student in Oslo who figured out the jotunvillur code inscribed on this plank.
The authenticity of the Shroud of Turin has been in question for centuries and scientific investigations over the last few decades have only seemed to muddle the debate. Is the revered cloth a miracle or an elaborate hoax?Now, a study claims neutron emissions from an ancient earthquake that rocked Jerusalem could have created the iconic image, as well as messed up the radiocarbon levels that later suggested the shroud was a medieval forgery. But other scientists say this newly proposed premise leaves some major questions unanswered.
A prehistoric boy's DNA now suggests that ancient toolmakers long thought of as the first Americans may serve as a kind of "missing link" between Native Americans and the rest of the world, researchers say.The findings reveal these prehistoric toolmakers are the direct ancestors of many contemporary Native Americans, and are closely related to all Native Americans.