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"Long before it's in the papers"
June 17, 2013
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EXCLUSIVES =
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Men want status from romantic relationships, research finds
A set of surveys suggests men and women get self-esteem from relationships in different ways.
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Killed twice in 1600s, hoax “dragon” slain again—in creationism dispute
Scientists say they’ve proven what some suspected three centuries ago: the swamp dragon from Rome was a hoax. And maybe now it matters more.
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Yes, gentlemen, size matters—but something else matters more, study finds
Scientists assessed how penis size, body height and body shape interact to influence female rankings of male allure.
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Babies may be drawn to those who mistreat the “different”
Researchers report new evidence that hard-to-eradicate biases based on race, sex and other differences take root early in life.
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Your brain cells may be capable of outliving you—by a lot
New findings make scientists hopeful that if human lifespan is
increased, brain cells will cooperate by living longer accordingly.
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Chimps
found to play fairness game like people
In some important ways, chimps may have more human-like concepts of fairness
than previously recognized, biologists say.
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For signs of life, some strange planetary systems may be most promising
Atmospheric chemicals betraying the presence of alien life might be detectable
around white dwarf stars, a study says.
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Did some Neanderthals learn advanced skills from “moderns”?
Surprisingly, some Neanderthal people seem to have made body ornaments
and sophisticated tools, a study reports.
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Theory that cooking gave us big brains gains support
New research backs up a theory that the advent of cooking almost two
million years ago enabled humans to get smarter.
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Friendliness to minorities may often be a performance—a fragile one
Many whites behave extra nicely to minorities, but it’s often an act
that arises from a sense of obligation, new research suggests.
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Gospel
of Matthew linked to trail of bizarre self-mutilations
A particular set of verses from a book in the Bible has created consternation
among some medical professionals.
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“Racial purity” DNA testing
slammed as perversion, but halting practice might not be easy
A politician has sparked outrage after reportedly taking a DNA
test for a shocking purpose. But just where the red line lies is not widely
agreed upon.
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Moral “taint” still seeps along familial lines
We are still blamed to some degree for the misdeeds of our relatives, according
to a set of newly reported surveys.
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American heads have been changing shape, but why?
White people’s heads in the United States have gotten taller and narrower
since the days the steamship was king, research indicates.
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Cold case solved? Study probes riddle of sinking beer bubbles
Bubbles in dark beer are seen to slide downward, ironically, because
they’re trying to head upward, a study reports.
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Move elephants into Australia, scientist proposes
Does the Land Down Under need an infusion of large mammals to solve its ecological
and wildfire problems?
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Was blackmail essential for marriage to evolve?
A study takes a cold new look at a custom as ancient and firmly established
as it is sacred to millions.
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A human bias against creativity is hindering science, research claims
Most of us love creativity—until it actually comes knocking, some
psychologists say.
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Pluto has even colder “twin” of similar size, studies find
A “dwarf planet” orbiting our sun three times further away than
Pluto is about the size of that better-known, frigid world, astronomers
say.
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Could
simple anger have taught people to cooperate?
A new study challenges one of the leading theories as a solution for
an evolutionary puzzle.
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Different cultures’ music matches their speech styles, study finds
Researchers have debated for years what the biological basis
of music might be.
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Your
parrot isn’t just parroting, study suggests
While
many owners will attest that pet parrots have a purpose in their talking,
the subject was little studied before recently.
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Music
making may help keep mind in tune in old age
Longtime playing of a musical instrument may help keep your mind
sharp as others’ start going flat, research suggests.
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Tiny
bugs have own personalities despite being clones, scientists say
Tiny green insects known as pea aphids have individual behavior
patterns, or “personalities,” a study reports.
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Does a smile mean something to a dog?
Dogs can learn to tell apart smiles from blank expressions in photos of
people, a study has found.
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Why do men use silly pickup lines?
A new study assesses the psychology and success rates of various gambits
by which men try to get women’s attention.
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"Forests" detectable even in distant solar systems, scientists suggest
Once humans start imaging Earth-like planets in other solar systems,
tree-like life forms might also be detectable, a study proposes.
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Bars may kill spiral galaxies
Some lovely cosmic structures may eventually come undone, say researchers
aided by citizen volunteers.
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MORE NEWS =
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Research paints new picture of “dinobird” feathers
Archaeopteryx, a famous fossil linking dinosaurs and birds,
had light-colored feathers with a dark edge and tip, an analysis indicates.
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Bacteria
found to arrange themselves in hidden patterns
Scientists have discovered strange, branching patterns in bacterial populations.
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Eww! 95% don’t wash hands properly
Remember mom’s advice about washing your hands thoroughly after using the restroom?
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Study: Hidden wildfires taking big toll on Amazon rainforest
A previously unmapped type of Amazon rainforest wildfire is destroying several times more forest than deforestation wipes out, scientists say.
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Bird has different dances for different songs
Male superb lyrebirds often move their bodies to the music in a choreographed way, say researchers.
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Oldest nearly complete primate fossil reported
A fossil from China could help scientists understand the story of primates,
a lineage that includes people, apes and monkeys.
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Sunscreen slows skin aging, study finds
Daily use of sunscreen slows skin aging in the young and middle-aged, a study has found.
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Meeting online may lead to
happier marriages
If you’re still turning up your nose at “online dating,” you might want to think
again, a study suggests.
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Ending
poverty, protecting nature go hand in hand: UN report
Wiping out poverty will require protecting the environment, a United Nations panel concludes.
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Astronomers hope to find alien civilizations through heat
A new proposal involves watching planets to check for abnormal amounts of
infrared, or heat, radiation.
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Some may beat “guilt-detection” tests by suppressing memories
Tests designed to check brain activity for signs of guilty memories are
in use in several countries—but they’re not foolproof, a study suggests.
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Rats have “double view” of world
Keeping the world overhead in permanent view seems to come at the expense
of an ability that humans take for granted, scientists say.
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Even farm animal diversity is waning, experts say
A new conservation group modeled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
is trying to address biodiversity loss.
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Overeating learned in infancy, study suggests
Some simple parenting practices may substantially reduce a child’s risk of obesity, researchers say.
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Allosaurus ate more like a falcon, T. rex more like a croc, study finds
Seemingly similar dinosaurs may have had quite different feeding styles.
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Hurricanes are part of forecast—for Saturn moon
Titan might be in for wild weather and some of its first known waves.
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Mammoths may have died after impact from space
Tiny balls of carbon hint at a disaster that melted rock and affected at least four continents, scientists say.
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Stacking 2-D materials leads to surprises
A nearly perfectly flat “wonder material” called graphene lacks one key property. Physicists hope to remedy that.
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Does your physical strength influence your politics?
Men’s upper-body strength predicts some of their political views, according to new research.
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NASA planet-hunting telescope breaks down
A NASA spacecraft designed to hunt for Earth-like planets has broken, and agency scientists don’t know whether they will be able to fix it.
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Cotton may offer “eco-friendly” way to clean up oil spills
A cheap form of raw cotton reportedly can sop up more than 30 times its weight in oil.
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New principle may help explain why nature is quantum
Like children, scientists are always asking “why?” One question they’ve yet to answer is why nature picked quantum physics.
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Study may overturn thinking on human intellect
The human edge in intelligence isn’t due mainly to the large size of the front part of our
brain, new research indicates.
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Moon, Earth water traced to same source: ancient meteorites
The moon’s water, like Earth’s, came from small, primitive meteorites in the first 100 million years or so of the solar system, researchers
say.
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Anti-cocaine vaccine getting ready for prime time
Preliminary tests are done and human testing should begin within a year,
scientists report.
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| World
Science Archive
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