science

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'Rewired' Nerves Restore Ability to Walk

Promising research on mice raises hopes for human breakthrough

(Newser) - Scientists have figured out how mice that lose the ability to walk after a spinal-cord injury can regain it, a finding that could someday help human patients, Scientific American reports. When the long nerves that run from the brain to the base of the spine were severed, shorter nerves in...

Nasal Spray May Beat Caffeine
Nasal Spray
May Beat Caffeine

Nasal Spray May Beat Caffeine

In tests, hormone erases effects of too little shut-eye

(Newser) - Help may be on the way for tired Americans in the form of a nasal spray that eliminates sleepiness without apparent side effects, reports Wired. UCLA scientists testing the naturally occurring brain hormone orexin A found that when used as a spray, it allowed sleep-deprived monkeys to perform as well...

Scientists Inscribe Tiny Bible
Scientists Inscribe Tiny Bible

Scientists Inscribe Tiny Bible

Israelis etch entire text on 0.01-square inch surface

(Newser) - Israeli scientists have crammed the entire Hebrew Bible onto a chip that is half the size of a grain of sugar, the AP reports. They used a particle beam to etch it onto the 0.01-square inch surface “like a hammer and chisel," one scientist said. The new...

White House Meddled With Climate Change Science: Report

House committee finds attempts to 'mislead'

(Newser) - A House committee says the Bush administration has attempted to mislead the public about global warming by editing written testimony, controlling media access to scientists, and trying to minimize the links between climate change and hurricanes, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The study, authored mainly by Democrats, accuses the White...

Long-Necked Dinosaur Grazed Like a Cow

Study finds plant-eater munched on ferns

(Newser) - The long-necked plant-eating dinosaur Nigersaurus ate its meals off the ground rather than reaching into trees, National Geographic reports. Fossils of the 30-foot-long creature reveal that the animal probably nibbled on plants such as ferns and horsetails. “We have seen nothing like this dinosaur,” said a paleontologist at...

The Kilogram Is Losing Weight
The Kilogram Is Losing Weight

The Kilogram Is Losing Weight

19th-century reference object may be off by microscopic amounts

(Newser) - To a casual observer, the plum-sized chunk of metal that rests inside a sealed, underground vault near Paris is unremarkable. But to scientists, the cylinder of platinum and iridium is one of the constants upon which science is based. It weighs exactly 1 kilogram, or at least it used to,...

US Schools Not in Dire Decline, Study Says

Report blasts myth of kids lagging in math, science, reading

(Newser) - Despite dire warnings, US students rank well against worldwide peers in math, science, and reading, according to a new study. In fact US scores are rising, and students are graduating with more science and engineering diplomas than the US market can sustain. So why all of the hullabaloo about US...

Why US Math, Science Ed is OK
Why US Math, Science Ed is OK

Why US Math, Science Ed is OK

Writer cites against-the-grain report ranking US in second place globally

(Newser) - Americans aren’t as deficient at math and science as usually reported, writes entrepreneur and Harvard Law Fellow Vivek Wadhwa in a Business Week op-ed. He cites an Urban Institute report with results contradicting many long-held beliefs about American science education, which places American science students consistently second in the...

After Sputnik: Satellites Today
After Sputnik: Satellites Today

After Sputnik: Satellites Today

Fifty years later, thousands of descendants have made a home in space

(Newser) - Satellites have lost a bit of their star power since Sputnik blasted into orbit. But 50 years later, its grandkids continue to look down at the Earth and out into deep, deep space. Here are some of the coolest, according to Wired:
  • James Webb Space Telescope: Putting the Hubble to
...

Twins Split by 'Science' Reunite
Twins Split by 'Science' Reunite

Twins Split by 'Science' Reunite

Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein raised in different families as part of scientific study

(Newser) - Three decades into a bizarre nature-versus-nurture experiment, Elyse Schein abruptly discovered she and a twin sister had been separated at birth and adopted into separate homes—all in the name of science. They eventually found each other in 2004, and now talked with CBS about their new memoir, Identical Strangers....

Stench is in Nose of Beholder
Stench is in Nose of Beholder

Stench is in Nose of Beholder

Body odor perceived differently based on genetics, study shows

(Newser) - Good news for men with a nasty smell wafting under their arms: Scientists can prove why it's not so bad to everyone. A report published in Nature says that male sweat can invoke scents from urine to vanilla, thanks to tiny differences in a single receptor gene. How it reacts...

Additives Do Make Kids Hyper
Additives Do Make Kids Hyper

Additives Do Make Kids Hyper

British study links chemicals to disruptive behavior; government issues warning

(Newser) - Adding fuel to a long-simmering debate, a British study has found that additives in sweets and soft drinks can indeed produce hyperactivity and disruptive behavior in children. The findings were so dramatic that the British government is issuing guidelines warning parents of kids with behavioral problems to avoid foods containing...

Einstein Is Rolling Over in His Grave

Teacher's new book pokes fun at bad science on the silver screen

(Newser) - If science held sway in Hollywood, Earth would have been blasted by a Texas-sized rock in Armageddon and Vin Diesel would have snowboarded for all of .45 seconds before waving a rippled arm goodbye under an avalanche in XXX. Not to mention that there's no sound in space, so bid...

Cancer Cures Hiding in Poisonous Lake

Scientists fish new microbes out of a toxic soup that kills

(Newser) - Two scientists may be fishing cancer cures out of an abandoned, poisonous lake, Wired reports. Don and Andrea Stierle are finding microbes in the green goup of an old Montana pit lake that don’t exist anywhere else – and happen to make compounds that inhibit a lung cancer and...

Women Have Been Falling for Brad Pitt Types for 2.6M Years

Rules of attraction haven't changed much

(Newser) - The facial proportions of the average hot guy haven't changed much throughout human  evolutionary history, finds a new study that compares contemporary human skulls with skulls from 2.6 million years ago. Women have been selecting for males with short, broad faces—think Brad Pitt and Will Smith—since the...

Out-of-Body Experience Induced in Lab

Study unlocks clues to near-death phenomenon

(Newser) - Scientists researching out-of-body experiences have discovered ways to trigger the phenomenon in volunteers, the BBC reports. Researchers using virtual reality goggles and  body images were able to trick participants into thinking they had moved several feet away from their bodies. The results, published in the journal Science, offer intriguing neurological...

Racing T-Rex? You'll Need a Head Start

Computer projection shows 6-ton carnivore was fleet of foot

(Newser) - If a professional soccer player raced a T-Rex, chances are the athlete would wind up a dino snack, according to a new computer model projection. The simulation, which is the first to rely mainly on data from fossils rather than modern descendants of prehistoric beasts, showed the 6-ton carnivore steaming...

25 Biggest Scientific Discoveries
25 Biggest Scientific Discoveries

25 Biggest Scientific Discoveries

From the unfathomably small to the mind-blowingly huge, the most significant breakthroughs

(Newser) - The invention of the wheel was pretty good. Fire, even better. But what has science done for us lately? USA Today lists the top 25 scientific discoveries; here are the top 10:
  1. Accelerating universe
  2. Human genome
  3. Climate accord

Common Virus Linked to Obesity
Common Virus Linked
to Obesity

Common Virus Linked to Obesity

Fat cells exposed to virus grow in size and number

(Newser) - A virus that causes sore throats and eye infections may also contribute to obesity, new research suggests. leaving infected people with more and larger fat cells than uninfected people have. The discovery could lead to the development of anti-obesity vaccines and may help explain why some obese people have healthy...

Scientists Work on Life From Scratch

Creation of an artificial organism could be 3 to 10 years away

(Newser) - A synthetic life form constructed in a lab from basic components could make its debut in the next 3 to 10 years, scientists say. Researchers are hard at work on creating a cell, which hopefully would be able to reproduce on its own. "It's going to be a big...

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