Culture
Concussion researchers have long suggested that damage to the corpus callosum, a thick bundle of nerves that connects the brain's two halves, could result in some common side effects of concussion, like dizziness or vision problems. The assumption is straightforward - that damage to the corpus callosum could affect coordination between the two halves - but difficult to prove.
AMHERST, Mass. - A persistent question among urban ecology researchers has been the long-term impact of urbanization on bird species biodiversity. Specifically, they wonder whether the portions of cities with higher diversity are simply exhibiting an "extinction debt" - populations doomed to extinction but not yet disappeared - or if other factors such as range shifts or local environmental changes play a role in changes in diversity.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - When it comes to advancing social status, it's not what you know, it's who you know - for humans and spotted hyenas alike.
In a new study published in the current issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Michigan State University scientists show that hyenas that form strong coalitions can gain social status, which can have lasting benefits over many generations.
ITHACA, N.Y. - It's not whether you win or lose; it's how hard the robot is working.
A Cornell University-led team has found that when robots are beating humans in contests for cash prizes, people consider themselves less competent and expend slightly less effort - and they tend to dislike the robots.
A new study has found that frequent visits to the bathroom at night could cost the US economy $44.4 billion a year. According to researchers at the not-for-profit research organisation RAND Europe, waking up more than twice a night due to nocturia, a health condition that affects the lower urinary tract, can have a detrimental effect on a person's wellbeing and productivity at work, which in turn has an impact on a country's GDP.
Science is known for being objective and apolitical, but is it? Historically speaking, the voices of underrepresented groups have been missing from science, resulting in an often incomplete and fragmented perspective of the world. Without these voices, we are left with skewed ideas about race, ethnicity, class, sex, gender, and sexuality, how these concepts get made, and how they affect people's lives.
A new study in the Review of Economic Studies finds that U.S. counties with more historical immigration have higher incomes, less poverty, and lower unemployment today.
An important issue in current American political discourse is the effect that immigrants have on the communities in which they settle. While this topic has received significant attention, the focus has generally been on the short-term effects of immigrants. We know much less about the long-run consequences of immigration.
Modern coal-fired power stations produce more ultrafine dust particles than road traffic and can even modify and redistribute rainfall patterns, a new 15-year international study shows.
The study indicates filtration systems on modern coal-fired power stations are the biggest source of ultrafine particles and can have considerable impacts on climate in several ways.
In urban areas, road traffic has long been considered the main source of small particle emissions which have the potential to adversely affect health and the environment.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A fascination with movie technology that showed robots perform self-repair through a liquid formula inspired a Purdue University professor to make his own discoveries - which are now helping to lead the way for advancements in self-powering devices such as consumer electronics and defense innovations.
When men and women contract a disease, it is very different when this is discovered by the healthcare system. On average, women are diagnosed later in life than men. This issue has been studied and analysed by researchers from the Novo Nordisk Foundation's Center for Protein Research, the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, UCPH, in a comprehensive study where data from the entire Danish population have been in use. The new research results have been published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.
"It is known that there are important similarities between the visual system of primates and the artificial neural networks of the latest generation. Our study shows how these similarities exist also with the visual system of rats, whose architecture is undoubtedly more primitive, if compared with the brain of primates, but whose functions and potential still remain largely unexplored".
Aging affects every living organism, but the molecular processes that contribute to aging remain a subject of debate. While many things contribute to the aging process, one common theme in animal aging is inflammation--and this may be amplified by a class of selfish genetic elements.
Factors that influence the health of our blood vessels, such as smoking, high blood and pulse pressures, obesity and diabetes, are linked to less healthy brains, according to research published in the European Heart Journal [1] today (Monday).
The study examined the associations between seven vascular risk factors and differences in the structures of parts of the brain. The strongest links were with areas of the brain known to be responsible for our more complex thinking skills, and which deteriorate during the development of Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
A study of university rugby players has shown that they are more likely to suffer sleep disordered breathing than an average middle-aged man.
The study also showed that the athletes who experience this problem are also more likely to have low levels of oxygen in their blood and higher pulse rates during the night, suggesting that athletes with sleep disordered breathing may be at risk of heart abnormalities.
Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and colleagues have identified a gene that increases the risk for a severe and potentially life-threatening reaction to the commonly prescribed antibiotic vancomycin.
Routine testing for this gene could improve patient safety and reduce unnecessary avoidance of other antibiotics, they reported in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.