This timid little fish escapes predators by injecting them with opioid-laced venom

This image shows the skull of the venomous species Meiacanthus grammistes. Credit: Anthony Romilio Fang blennies are small fish with big teeth. Specifically, they have two large canine teeth that jut out of their lower jaw. Since blenny fish are only about two inches long, these 'fangs' would be less than intimidating...

Read More

Bad cold? If you're lonely, it may feel worse

Lonelier people report more acute symptomsA new study showed people who feel lonely are likely to report more severe symptoms from the common cold. Suffering through a cold is annoying enough, but if you're lonely, you're likely to feel even worse, according to Rice University researchers. A study led by Rice psychologist...

Read More

Abuse accelerates puberty in children

Maltreatment can affect a child's psychological development. New research indicates that the stress of abuse can impact the physical growth and maturation of adolescents as well.Credit: © Roman Bodnarchuk / Fotolia While it has long been known that maltreatment can affect a child's psychological development, new research...

Read More

Why are primates big-brained? Researchers' answer is food for thought

Brain size in primates is predicted by diet, an analysis by a team of NYU anthropologists indicates. Above, a chimpanzee eating fruit. Credit: James Higham Brain size in primates is predicted by diet, an analysis by a team of anthropologists indicates. These results call into question “the social brain hypothesis,”...

Read More

Using Latin to analyse other languages

The Latin translation next to the Arabic text helps represent the grammar and contents structure of the original better than a direct German translation would have done.Credit: © RUB, Damian Gorczany A researcher has figured out why Latin still turned up in many documents in the 17th to 19th centuries, even though...

Read More

Scientists reveal hidden structures in bacterial DNA

DNA contains the instructions for life, encoded within genes. Within all cells, DNA is organised into very long lengths known as chromosomes. In animal and plant cells these are double-ended, like pieces of string or shoelaces, but in bacteria they are circular. Whether stringy or circular, these long chromosomes must...

Read More

People often use the word 'you' rather than 'I' to cope with negative experiences

Researchers say it may seem contradictory that a means of generalizing to people at large is used when reflecting on one's most personal and idiosyncratic experiences. To cope with negative experiences or to share an insight, people often use the word "you" rather than "I." "You" is an overlooked word that people use...

Read More

Scientists identify a new way gut bacteria break down complex sugars

New light has been shed on the functioning of human gut bacteria which could help to develop medicines in the future to improve health and wellbeing. Scientists have found that single microorganisms in the human gut have the ability to disassemble the most complex of carbohydrates in our diet. It is the first time...

Read More

Brain 'rewires' itself to enhance other senses in blind people

This is a photo of a participant in a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner used in this study. (Boston University Medical School Center for Biomedical Imaging) The brains of those who are born blind make new connections in the absence of visual information, resulting in enhanced, compensatory abilities such as...

Read More

Yellow fever killing thousands of monkeys in Brazil

In a vulnerable forest in southeastern Brazil, where the air was once thick with the guttural chatter of brown howler monkeys, there now exists silence. Yellow fever, a virus carried by mosquitoes and endemic to Africa and South America, has robbed the private, federally-protected reserve of its brown howlers in an unprecedented...

Read More

Did humans create the Sahara desert?

Dunes of the Sahara Desert. (© Andrea / Fotolia) New research investigating the transition of the Sahara from a lush, green landscape 10,000 years ago to the arid conditions found today, suggests that humans may have played an active role in its desertification. The desertification of the Sahara has long been a...

Read More

Cooking at home tonight? It's likely cheaper and healthier, study finds

Cooking at home tonight? Researchers from the University of Washington School of Public Health have been peeking into kitchens -- via interviews -- for years now. They've just published results showing people who cook at home more often are likely to eat a healthier overall diet. "By cooking more often at home, you...

Read More

Emotional intelligence helps make better doctors

Among the qualities that go into making an excellent physician is emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and others and to use this awareness to manage your behavior and relationships. Emotional intelligence plays a big role in determining a physician's bedside manner. It helps make patients more trusting, which in turn leads to better doctor-patient relationships, increased...

Read More

How cells communicate to move together as a group

When an individual cell needs to move somewhere, it manages just fine on its own. It extends protrusions from its leading edge and retracts the trailing edge to scoot itself along, without having to worry about what the other cells around it are doing. But when cells are joined together in a sheet of tissue, or epithelium, they have to coordinate their movements with their neighbors. It's like walking by yourself versus navigating a crowded room....

Read More

For hospitalized patients, spending more on care doesn't buy better health

Hospitalized patients treated by physicians who order more or more expensive tests and procedures are just as likely to be readmitted or to die as patients treated by doctors who order fewer or less expensive tests, according to research led by Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine on March 13, is believed to be the first to examine the impact of individual...

Read More