NASA warning: ‘Unseen’ asteroid set to skim Earth

  EXCLUSIVE: NASA is closely monitoring the arrival of a previously unseen asteroid that is set to brush past Earth today at 21,362 miles per hour. The space rock had been invisible to astronomers until Christmas Day when it was first identified. Now called asteroid2017 YZ4, it will come past us between the Earth...

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Mystery of how first animals appeared on Earth solved

Research has solved the mystery of how the first animals appeared on Earth, a pivotal moment for the planet without which humans would not exist. Research led by The Australian National University (ANU) has solved the mystery of how the first animals appeared on Earth, a pivotal moment for the planet without which humans would not exist. Lead researcher Associate Professor Jochen Brocks said the team found the answer in ancient sedimentary...

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Creating music by thought alone

Newly-developed hands-free musical instrument now allows people to make music with their minds. Neurologists have created a hands-free, thought-controlled musical instrument. They hope that this new instrument will help empower and rehabilitate patients with motor disabilities such as those from stroke, spinal cord injury, amputation, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The Encephalophone is a musical instrument that you control with...

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Cocoa and chocolate are not just treats -- they are good for your cognition

Cocoa can be seen as a dietary supplement to protect human cognition and can counteract different types of cognitive decline. Researchers have examined the available literature for the effects of acute and chronic administration of cocoa flavanols on different cognitive domains. It turns out that cognitive performance...

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Gene editing strategy eliminates HIV-1 infection in live animals

Scientists have demonstrated that HIV-1 replication can be completely shut down and the virus eliminated from infected cells in animals with a powerful gene editing technology known as CRISPR/Cas9. Credit: © gamjai / Fotolia A permanent cure for HIV infection remains elusive due to the virus's ability to hide away...

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Mission control: Salty diet makes you hungry, not thirsty

Salty snacks. Surprisingly, in the long run, a salty diet causes people to drink less. Credit: © fotofabrika / Fotolia New studies show that salty food diminishes thirst while increasing hunger, due to a higher need for energy We've all heard it: eating salty foods makes you thirstier. But what sounds like good...

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Policymakers 'flying blind' into the future of work

New kinds of data needed to assess technology's impact on jobs Will a robot take away my job? Many people ask that question, yet policymakers don't have the kind of information they need to answer it intelligently, say the authors of a new study. Will a robot take away my job? Many people ask that question, yet policymakers don't have the kind of information they need to answer it intelligently, say the authors of a new study from the National...

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Is soda bad for your brain? (And is diet soda worse?)

Matthew Pase is lead author on two studies that link higher consumption of both sugary and artificially sweetened drinks to adverse brain effects. Credit: Cydney Scott Both sugary, diet drinks correlated with accelerated brain aging Excess sugar -- especially the fructose in sugary drinks -- might damage your brain,...

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Genetics, environment combine to give everyone a unique sense of smell

Genetically identical mice exposed to different smells as they grow up develop different olfactory receptors in their noses.Credit: © Marion Wear / Fotolia Genetically identical mice develop different smell receptors in response to their environments. Receptors in the noses of mice exposed to certain smells during...

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Macrophages conduct electricity, help heart to beat

The image shows a volumetric reconstruction of a human atrioventricular node. Cardiomyocytes (red) appear densely interspersed with macrophages (green). Credit: Maarten Hulsmans & Matthias Nahrendorf Macrophages have a previously unrecognized role in helping the mammalian heart beat in rhythm. Researchers have...

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Water is streaming across Antarctica

New survey finds liquid flow more widespread than thought In the first such continent-wide survey, scientists have found extensive drainages of meltwater flowing over parts of Antarctica's ice during the brief summer. In the first such continent-wide survey, scientists have found extensive drainages of meltwater flowing...

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Naked mole-rats 'turn into plants' when oxygen is low

Ignore the whiskers and teeth -- these are plants. Credit: Thomas Park/UIC Discovery could lead to treatments for heart attack, stroke Deprived of oxygen, naked mole-rats can survive by metabolizing fructose just as plants do -- a finding that could lead to treatments for heart attacks and strokes. Deprived of...

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Research uses mirrors to make solar energy cost competitive

Concentrating solar power technologies use mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight to produce heat, which can then be used to produce electricity, according to ongoing work by mechanical engineers. These technologies present a distinct advantage over photovoltaic (PV) cells in their ability to store the sun’s energy as thermal energy, experts say. If the current national challenge to make solar energy cost competitive with other forms of...

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