Science

By Science Daily   The use of nanoparticles in cancer research is considered as a promising approach in detecting and fighting tumor cells. The method has, however, often failed because the human immune system recognizes the particles as foreign objects and rejects them before they can fulfil their function. Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) …

By Will Dunham   Current theory about the shape of the human face just got a big punch in the mouth. Two University of Utah researchers proposed on Monday that the face of the ancestors of modern humans evolved millions of years ago in a way that would limit injuries from punches during fist fights …

By Stephanie Pappas   This month, the full moon falls on Friday the 13th. Freaky? Nah, probably not. Despite many myths, the full moon does not actually embolden criminals, bring about births or make people mad, studies show. And while Friday the 13th superstitions may be well entrenched, there’s nothing particularly special about a full moon falling …

By Arielle Duhaime-Ross For more than a decade, scientists have been developing a fertility technique that involves combining DNA from three parents to make a child. The technique, which has yet to be tested on humans, aims to help women who suffer from mitochondrial disease conceive a baby to which they are genetically related. But as the science …

By Zoe Gough   Rats experience regret when their actions make them miss out on better food options, a study has found. It is the first time regret has been identified in mammals other than humans. Researchers created situations where rats had to choose whether to wait a set amount of time for a food …

By Alejandra Martins and Paul Rincon   A paraplegic man has made the first kick of the World Cup using a mind-controlled robotic exoskeleton. Juliano Pinto, a 29-year-old with complete paralysis of the lower trunk, performed the symbolic kick-off at the Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo. Using his robotic suit, Mr Pinto kicked the official …

By Science Daily   On the island of Java, in Indonesia, the silvery gibbon, an endangered primate, lives in the rainforests. In a behavior that’s unusual for a primate, the silvery gibbon sings: It can vocalize long, complicated songs, using 14 different note types, that signal territory and send messages to potential mates and family. …

By Science Daily   A major fossil discovery in Canada sheds new light on the development of the earliest vertebrates, including the origin of jaws, the first time this feature has been seen so early in the fossil record. A key piece in the puzzle of the evolution of vertebrates has been identified, after the …

By Jane Qiu   The Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) was thought to have evolved in Europe as the ice sheet expanded when a glacial period swept the Earth about 2.6 million years ago. But fossil evidence now suggests that the animal ‘pre-adapted’ to living in the cold and harsh environment on lofty Tibetan terrains. While hiking …

By Pallab Ghosh   Researchers have found evidence of the world that crashed into the Earth billions of years ago to form the Moon. Analysis of lunar rock brought back by Apollo astronauts shows traces of the “planet” called Theia. The researchers claim that their discovery confirms the theory that the Moon was created by just …

By Sara Reardon   Stress has long been thought to trigger heart attacks, but the mechanism is unknown. Now, researchers think that bacteria could play a role. A study published today in mBio1  suggests that stress hormones can break up mats of bacteria growing on the fatty plaques in arteries, releasing the plaques and causing strokes …

By Science Daily   Work presented today at the Goldschmidt Geochemistry Conference in Sacramento, California shows that the timing of the giant impact between Earth’s ancestor and a planet-sized body occurred around 40 million years after the start of solar system formation. This means that the final stage of Earth’s formation is around 60 million …