Culture
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The work of a science writer, including this one, includes reading journal papers filled with specialized technical terminology, and figuring out how to explain their contents in language that readers without a scientific background can understand.
Now, a team of scientists at MIT and elsewhere has developed a neural network, a form of artificial intelligence (AI), that can do much the same thing, at least to a limited extent: It can read scientific papers and render a plain-English summary in a sentence or two.
When it comes to making moral decisions, we often think of the golden rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Yet, why we make such decisions has been widely debated. Are we motivated by feelings of guilt, where we don't want to feel bad for letting the other person down? Or by fairness, where we want to avoid unequal outcomes? Some people may rely on principles of both guilt and fairness and may switch their moral rule depending on the circumstances, according to a Radboud University - Dartmouth College study on moral decision-making and cooperation.
More than a quarter of children with autism spectrum disorder are also diagnosed with disruptive behavior disorders. For the first time, Yale researchers have identified a possible biological cause: a key mechanism that regulates emotion functions differently in the brains of the children who exhibit disruptive behavior.
The study appears in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.
Highlights
The Time to Reduce Mortality in ESRD (TiME) trial was a large pragmatic trial demonstration project designed to determine the benefits of hemodialysis sessions that are longer than many patients currently receive.
The trial was conducted through a partnership between academic investigators and 2 large dialysis provider organizations using a highly centralized implementation approach.
Behavioural problems in young people with severe antisocial behaviour - known as conduct disorder - could be caused by differences in the brain's wiring that link the brain's emotional centres together, according to new research led by the University of Birmingham.
RNA sequencing is a technique used to analyze entire genomes by looking at the expression of their genes. Today, such genome-wide expression analyses are a standard tool for genomic studies because they rely on high-throughput technologies, which themselves have become widely available.
April 19, 2019-- A short video describing the potential benefits and risks of low-dose CT screening for lung cancer in addition to an informational brochure increased patients' knowledge and reduced conflicted feelings about whether to undergo the scan more than the informational brochure alone, according to a randomized, controlled trial published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.
Engineers at Duke University are developing a smart robotic system for sniffing out pollution hotspots and sources of toxic leaks. Their approach enables a robot to incorporate calculations made on the fly to account for the complex airflows of confined spaces rather than simply 'following its nose.'
The iconic "death roll" of alligators and crocodiles may be more common among species than previously believed, according to a new study published in Ethology, Ecology & Evolution and coauthored by a researcher at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Is honesty the best policy when it comes to being green?
It just might be, according to a new paper by Michel Magnan, a professor of accountancy at the John Molson School of School of Business.
In their article for Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, Magnan and co-author Hani Tadros of Elon University in North Carolina looked at 78 US firms in environmentally sensitive industries from 1997 to 2010. They wanted to deepen their understanding of the driving forces behind the firms' disclosure of their environmental practices and management.
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Antimicrobial paints offer the promise of extra protection against bacteria. But Northwestern University researchers caution that these paints might be doing more harm than good.
In a new study, the researchers tested bacteria commonly found inside homes on samples of drywall coated with antimicrobial, synthetic latex paints. Within 24 hours, all bacteria died except for Bacillus timonensis, a spore-forming bacterium. Most bacilli are commonly inhabit soil, but many are found in indoor environments.
WHAT:
The American Bumblebee - a species once more commonly seen buzzing around Southern Ontario - is critically endangered, according to a new study led by York University.
New North Carolina State University research shows that key proteins known for their ability to prevent viral infections by inducing cell death can also block certain bacterial infections without triggering the death of the host cells.
Rather than killing host cells infected by Listeria in the gastrointestinal tract, the RIPK3 and MLKL proteins recognize the chemical composition of the bacteria and MLKL binds to it, preventing the spread of Listeria while keeping the host cells alive.
Leonardo da Vinci's world-renowned "Mona Lisa" painting of Lisa Gherardini has captivated millions since it was created in the early 1500s, including experts in the medical community. For years, scientists and physicians have studied the discoloration of Gherardini's skin, the thickness of her neck, and her enigmatic smile to hypothesize about her health during the Renaissance time period.