Strong Earth Quake Hit Italy

A powerful earthquake has struck central Italy, collapsing buildings in the same area where nearly 300 people died in a quake two months ago. The quake is larger than August 24's deadly quake nearby, but many people had since fled the region, helping avoid a devastating death toll on Sunday. The quake caused shaking...

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The transition from daylight saving time to standard time leads to depressions

The number of people diagnosed with depression at psychiatric hospitals increases immediately after the transition from daylight saving time to standard time, concludes new research. "The year has 16 months: November, December, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, November,...

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Brain surface stimulation provides 'touch' feedback to direct movement

Grasping a cup or brushing hair or cooking a meal requires feedback that has been lost in amputees and individuals with paralysis -- a sense of touch. Researchers have now used direct stimulation of the human brain surface to provide this basic sensory feedback through artificial electrical signals, enabling a person to...

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Restoring the sense of touch in amputees using natural signals of nervous system

Scientists have found a way to produce realistic sensations of touch in two human amputees by directly stimulating the nervous system. Scientists at the University of Chicago and Case Western Reserve University have found a way to produce realistic sensations of touch in two human amputees by directly stimulating the...

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Astrophysicists map the Milky Way

Hydrogen. Atomic number 1. It is the simplest and lightest element on the periodic table, but don't be fooled by its humble appearance. With just a single proton and a single electron, it is the most abundant element in the universe and has fueled star formation for the past 13 billion years. Now scientists have mapped...

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Early humans used innovative heating techniques to make stone blades

Humans living in South Africa in the Middle Stone Age used advanced heating techniques that vastly improved living conditions during the era. According to a new study published in the open-access journalPLOS ONE, humans living in South Africa in the Middle Stone Age after 65,000 years ago deliberately heated silcrete,...

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Quantum computers: 10-fold boost in stability achieved

Engineers have created a new quantum bit that remains in a stable superposition for 10 times longer than previously achieved, dramatically expanding the number of calculations that could be performed in a future silicon quantum computer. Engineers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have created a new quantum...

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Monkeys are seen making stone flakes so humans are 'not unique' after all

Researchers have observed wild-bearded capuchin monkeys in Brazil deliberately break stones, unintentionally creating flakes that share many of the characteristics of those produced by early Stone Age hominins. The difference is that the capuchins' flakes are not intentional tools for cutting and scraping, but seem to be...

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Mystery species hidden in cave art appears to be unknown bison-cattle hybrid

Ancient DNA research has revealed that Ice Age cave artists recorded a previously unknown hybrid species of bison and cattle in great detail on cave walls more than 15,000 years ago. The mystery species, known affectionately by the researchers as the Higgs Bison* because of its elusive nature, originated over 120,000...

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Exposure to chemicals dangerous to hormone function burdens Americans with hundreds of billions in disease costs

Annual healthcare costs and lost earnings in the United States from low-level but daily exposure to hazardous chemicals commonly found in plastic bottles, metal food cans, detergents, flame retardants, toys, cosmetics, and pesticides, exceeds $340 billion, according to a detailed economic analysis. The investigators who...

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Knowingly taking placebo pills eases pain, study finds

A new study is the first to demonstrate beneficial placebo effect for lower back pain sufferers who knew they were taking 'fake pills.' Patients who knowingly took placebos reported 30 percent less pain and 29 percent reduction in disability compared to control group. 'Open-labeling' addresses longtime ethical dilemma,...

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Scientific Discoveries That Happened by Accident

This is Exiting Discoveries That Happened By Accident 1. In the early 1990s, Pfizer was testing out a drug called UK92480, intended to treat patients with angina, a common precursor to heart attacks, involving the constriction of blood vessels that supply the heart. The company was hoping the drug...

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