Culture
The platypus is the ultimate evolutionary mashup of birds, reptiles and mammals. The iconic, egg-laying, venom producing, duck-billed platypus first had its genome sequenced in 2008, revealing its unique genetic makeup and its divergence from the rest of the mammals around 160 million years ago.
Now, a greater effort to understand its ecological and population history has been made possible by the first, whole-scale genome sequencing efforts of 57 platypuses across Eastern Australia and Tasmania.
Up to one in five people may show signs of a synaesthesia-like phenomenon in which they 'hear' silent flashes or movement, according to a new study from City, University of London.
While the effect is barely known to science, the researchers found that this 'visually-evoked auditory response' (vEAR) is far more common than other types of synaesthesia - such when certain sounds elicit a specific colour - with flashing lights and motion evoking vivid sounds.
A group of researchers in the Department of Financial Economics II (Company Economics and Marketing) of the UPV/EHU's Faculty of Economics and Business has conducted a study that seeks to identify the factors driving the pro-environmental behaviour of university students; the aim is to be able to increase the effectiveness of university and Government interventions and policies in favour of the environment.
Tsukuba, Japan - Genes encode proteins and proteins dictate cell function. Therefore, the thousands of genes expressed in a cell determine what that cell can do. Among the multiple elements that are involved in the precise regulation of gene expression are enhancers, which are short region of DNA that can be bound by proteins (activators) to increase the likelihood of transcription of a particular gene.
New research has revealed how people's intelligence, rather than their personality traits, leads to success.
Researchers at the Universities of Bristol, Minnesota and Heidelberg devised a series of games to find out which factors lead to cooperative behaviour when people interact in social and workplace situations.
Their findings, due to be published in the Journal of Political Economy, showed that people with a higher IQ displayed 'significantly higher' levels of cooperation, which in turn led to them earning more money as part of the game.
Addressing the global teacher gap of 69 million should be the number one priority for education policymakers the world over, a new international study has warned.
The shortage of teachers is the biggest threat to the international goal of providing quality teaching to all children according to the study led by Prof Kwame Akyeampong, Professor of International Education and Development at the University of Sussex.
EVANSTON, Ill. --- When drawing scientists, U.S. children now depict female scientists more often than ever, according to new Northwestern University research, which analyzed five decades of "Draw-A-Scientist" studies conducted since the 1960s.
This change suggests that children's stereotypes linking science with men have weakened over time, said the researchers, consistent with more women becoming scientists and children's media depicting more female scientists on television shows, magazines and other media.
The participation of women in science has risen significantly in the United States since the 1960s. A new meta-analysis reviewed five decades of "Draw a Scientist" tests to determine whether children's drawings have mirrored that change. The study found that U.S. children and adolescents today draw female scientists more often than in earlier decades, but overall, female scientists are still depicted much less frequently than males in children's and youths' drawings.
ITHACA, N.Y. - Although scientists warn that urgent action is needed to stop climate change, public engagement continues to lag. Many social scientists say people are hesitant to act on climate change because, especially in Western industrialized countries like the U.S., it feels like such a distant threat.
New research from a Cornell University communication professor upends that conventional thinking.
Groundbreaking discoveries regarding the onset of cholera are paving the way for a future, fast-acting antidote for cholera epidemics, according to research published in the journals PLOS Pathogens and ACS Infectious Disease.
ST. LOUIS -- In a recent paper published in Cell Reports, Saint Louis University researchers have uncovered new answers about why cells rapidly age in children with a rare and fatal disease. The data points to cellular replication stress and a mistaken innate immune response as culprits, and the team found success in the laboratory in blocking these processes with vitamin D.
Working with light and genetically engineered bacteria, researchers from Stanford University are able to shape the growth of bacterial communities. From polka dots to stripes to circuits, they can render intricate designs overnight. The technique, described in the Mar. 19 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, can achieve biofilms grown at a resolution of 25 micrometers, which is about one-tenth the size of a grain of table salt.
The numbers of missed hospital outpatient appointments increases following the clock change in the spring, researchers have shown.
In a study, led by the University of York and Lancaster University, researchers revealed that patients are five per cent more likely to miss an appointment in the week after the clocks go forward compared with the previous week.
Psychologists analysed over two million appointments in Scotland from 2005 to 2010 before, during and after the spring and autumn clock changes.
Interest rate hikes by central banks can impact on the mental health of people in debt, a new study led by University of Stirling experts has found.
Central banks around the world use interest rates to control how much people and businesses spend or invest, in order to maintain a low-inflation, stable economy.