A French research team has found that babies can decipher speech as early as three months before birth. The evidence comes from detailed brain scans of 12 infants born prematurely. At just 28 weeks’ gestation, the babies appeared to discriminate between different syllables like “ga” and “ba” as well as male and female voices. Writing [...]
British researchers have found that a run of poor sleep can have a dramatic effect on the internal workings of the human body. The activity of hundreds of genes was altered when people’s sleep was cut to less than six hours a day for a week. Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy [...]
A new research found that young people who smoke cannabis run the risk of a significant and irreversible reduction in their IQ. The findings come from a study of around 1,000 people in New Zealand. An international team found those who started using cannabis below the age of 18 – while their brains were still [...]
A record radioactive contamination from last year’s Fukushima nuclear accident has been detected in Pacific Bluefin tuna caught off the coast of California. Bluefin tuna would have picked up the pollution while swimming in Japanese waters, before then moving to the far side of the ocean. Scientists stress that the fish are still perfectly safe [...]
US researchers from Stanford University have demonstrated a means to use short sections of DNA as rewritable data “bits” in living cells. The technique uses two proteins adapted from viruses to “flip” the DNA bits. Though it is at an early stage, the advance could help pave the way for computing and memory storage within [...]
Researchers from Northwestern University, US, say bilingualism is a form of brain training – a mental “work out” that fine-tunes the mind. Speaking two languages profoundly affects the brain and changes how the nervous system responds to sound, lab tests revealed. Experts say the work in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides “biological” [...]
Researchers have found that traces of ancient viruses which infected our ancestors millions of years ago are more widespread in us than previously thought. A study shows how extensively viruses from as far back as the dinosaur era still thrive in our genetic material. It sheds light on the origins of a big proportion of [...]
About 9,000 of possible new ancient sites have been discovered by archaeologists using computers to scour satellite images. Jason Ur said he had found about the potential early human settlements in north-eastern Syria. Computers scanned the images for soil discoloration and mounds caused when mud-brick settlements collapsed. Dr. Jason Ur said surveying the same area [...]
Russian scientists have grown plants from fruit stored away in permafrost by squirrels over 30,000 years ago. The fruit was found in the banks of the Kolmya River in Siberia, a top site for people looking for mammoth bones. The Institute of Cell Biophysics team raised plants of Silene stenophylla – of the campion family [...]
A huge Burmese python was caught by rangers in Everglades, Florida, before it could lay eggs containing the 59 super-predators inside her. The image was taken in 2009 but the problem is a very pressing one in 2012. Nothing and no one is safe when these marauding foreign invaders emerge from the fetid swamp that [...]
Researchers studying mice at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California have converted skin cells directly into cells which develop into the main components of the brain. The experiment, which was reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, skipped the middle “stem cell” stage in the process. The researchers said they were [...]
According to experts, relationships may be as vital to good health as a balanced diet and plenty of rest. Scientists at UCLA’s school of medicine have found that negative social interactions can lead to increased inflammation, which may in turn cause a host of illnesses from cancer to heart disease and high blood pressure. The [...]
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John Lennon guitar sells for $408,000 at Julien's AuctionsA guitar played by John Lennon and George Harrison of the Beatles has sold for $408,000 at auction. The custom-made instrument, built in 1966 by the VOX company, was bought…
Kim Kardashian finally puts her swollen feet in flatsAfter she raised eyebrows on Thursday as she crammed her swollen feet into Perspex heels, with painful looking results, Kim Kardashian finally seems to be giving her feet a…
Eva Longoria humiliating wardrobe malfunction at Cannes Film FestivalEva Longoria has suffered an extremely embarrassing wardrobe malfunction as she unfortunately revealed far more than she intended to upon screening of Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy…
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart split after cheating scandalRobert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have split after almost four years together, People magazine is reporting. The couple – who reportedly broke up briefly in December…
Eurovision 2013 winner is Denmark's Emmelie de Forest with Only TeardropsDenmark has won 2013 Eurovision Song Contest, held in the Swedish city of Malmo. Danish Emmelie de Forest had been the overwhelming favorite among the 26 entries, with her…
Phil Robertson, Miss Kay and Uncle Si do commercials for Clayton HomesDuck Commander Phil Robertson and his wife Miss Kay, the stars of Duck Dynasty, sliced some sweet potato pie and filled their audience in about Clayton Homes. “What do I…