Japanese scientists are shedding new light on the importance of light-sensing cells in the retina that process visual information. The researchers isolated the functions of melanopsin cells and demonstrated their crucial role in the perception of visual environment. This ushers... Continue Reading →
Smiling really can make people feel happier, according to a paper published in Psychological Bulletin. Coauthored by researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Texas A&M, the paper looked at nearly 50 years of data testing whether facial expressions can... Continue Reading →
Scientists from EPFL in Switzerland and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Italy are developing technology for the blind that bypasses the eyeball entirely and sends messages to the brain. They do this by stimulating the optic nerve with a new type... Continue Reading →
Excess heat given off by smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices can be annoying, but beyond that it contributes to malfunctions and, in extreme cases, can even cause lithium batteries to explode. To guard against such ills, engineers often insert... Continue Reading →
Eating extra servings typically shows up on the scale later, but how this happens has not been clear. A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation by a multi-institutional team led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine reveals a... Continue Reading →
Beta-amyloid plaques, the protein aggregates that form in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, disrupt many brain functions and can kill neurons. They can also damage the blood-brain barrier -- the normally tight border that prevents harmful molecules in the bloodstream... Continue Reading →
Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia among the elderly, is characterized by plaques and tangles in the brain, with most efforts at finding a cure focused on these abnormal structures. But a University of California, Riverside, research team... Continue Reading →
In 1935, the physicist Erwin Schrödinger put forward the thought experiment with the quantum cat, in which the cat is enclosed in a box together with a radioactive sample, a detector and a lethal amount of poison. If the radioactive... Continue Reading →
Consuming flavonoid-rich items such as apples and tea protects against cancer and heart disease, particularly for smokers and heavy drinkers, according to new research from Edith Cowan University (ECU). Researchers from ECU's School of Medical and Health Sciences analysed data... Continue Reading →
Scents of Science 