Uncategorized

Brain

Choosing shocks over contemplation

Some people think being alone is unpleasant. In one new study, some found choosing to get a painful shock helped them endure being alone for 15 minutes.

Physics

Smooshed diamonds: A window into exoplanets?

Scientists have compressed diamonds more than ever before. Their carbon may give clues to what conditions might be like deep within planets way beyond our solar system.

Fossils

Newly dated footprints: Oldest human tracks?

These footprints, found nearly a half-century ago, may be almost four times older than first thought, scientists now report.

Animals

Bugs may have made us brainy

Finding and eating bugs when other food was scarce helped primates — including our ancestors — evolve bigger and better brains. At least that’s the conclusion of a new study in Costa Rica.

Health & Medicine

Young blood: The elixir of youth?

Old mice show improved memory when blood from young mice circulated through their brains, a new study finds. Other studies suggest one ingredient in that young blood might be all it takes to deliver benefits.

Microbes

The war on superbugs

Doctors and scientists are exploring ways to stem the growing global crisis of antibacterial resistance.

Microbes

Explainer: What you can do to fight antibiotic resistance

Doctors and scientists are not the only people who can help preserve the effectiveness of life-saving antibiotics. Even patients have a role to play, as these tips show.

Microbes

The HIV cure — that wasn’t

Immediate and aggressive drug treatment of a baby born with HIV appeared to have cured the girl. In fact, a follow-up shows, she still has the disease.

Fossils

Mega-bird!

What may have been the bird world’s biggest flier ever had wings so long, they would have had trouble flapping fast enough to keep it aloft in tough winds. But this behemoth would have been able to soar both far and fast.

Agriculture

Your food choices affect Earth’s climate

Producing food can put a lot of climate-warming pollutants into the atmosphere. But some foods, especially meats, contribute more than others.

Microbes

Superbugs: A silent health emergency

Have antibiotics become too popular? Overusing these medicines fuels resistant germs that pose a global health threat.

Microbes

Explainer: Where antibiotics came from

A mold proved the source of the first known antibiotic: penicillin. But chemical dyes would lead to the first antibiotics used in treating people.