New research demonstrates that particles at the quantum level can in fact be seen as behaving something like billiard balls rolling along a table, and not merely as the probabilistic smears that the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics suggests. But there's a catch - the tracks the particles follow do not always behave as one would expect from "realistic" trajectories, but often in a fashion that has been termed "surrealistic."
Between 1947 and 1956, John Curtis and his colleagues and students conducted their prairie relic study, surveying more than 200 undisturbed prairie remnants in Wisconsin. Today [Feb. 19, 2016] UW-Madison graduate student Amy Alstad and a team of researchers have published a third survey based on Curtis’ legacy work. They found that human influence has accelerated the rate of species change in these prairies.
Excessive growth of bacteria in the small intestine could be damaging the guts of young children, leading to stunting, scientists from the U.S. and Bangladesh have discovered.
Researchers have shown how a bizarrely shaped black hole could cause Einstein's general theory of relativity, a foundation of modern physics, to break down. However, such an object could only exist in a universe with five or more dimensions.
Laboratory rats who breathed Beijing's highly polluted air gained weight and experienced cardio-respiratory and metabolic dysfunctions after three to eight weeks of exposure.
University of Colorado Boulder researchers have demonstrated the use of the world’s first ultrafast optical microscope, allowing them to probe and visualize matter at the atomic level with mind-bending speed.
Why does sleeping on it help? This is the question tackled by new research at the University of Bristol, which reveals how brain activity during sleep sorts through the huge number of experiences we encounter every day, filing only the important information in memory.
In 2011, California embarked on one of the biggest and most controversial criminal justice experiments in history. Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Plata, the state passed the Public Safety Realignment Act – in legislative shorthand AB 109 – which required that California’s 58 counties develop policies that best fit their local needs in anticipation of the transfer of 33,000 inmates from state prisons to county supervision. Their options included adding jail beds, putting the transferees on probation or under electronic monitoring, or providing drug/alcohol rehabilitation services.
Motion-controlled video games, such as those played on the Wii, may help boost skills when players compete in the real world, according to a team of researchers.
In a recent study, a researcher at Princeton and colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have come up with a formula that describes the maximum heat transfer in such tight scenarios.
Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have measured the rotation rate of 'super-Jupiter-class' exoplanet 2M1207b by observing the varied brightness in its atmosphere. This is the first rotation rate measurement of a massive exoplanet using direct imaging. The observations also confirm that the planet's atmosphere has layers of patchy, colorless clouds.
Young people with mental problems - especially those with psychotic-like symptoms - should receive help as early as possible and in their own environment. This was the conclusion of a joint study of the University of Helsinki, the Helsinki University Hospital Department of Psychiatry and the National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland.
In the largest study of its kind, an international team of experts led by Newcastle University, UK, has shown that both organic milk and meat contain around 50% more beneficial omega-3 fatty acids than conventionally produced products.
Antibiotics may be linked to a serious disruption in brain function, called delirium, and other brain problems, more than previously thought, according to a “Views and Reviews” article published in the February 17, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, a medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Caltech biologists have performed the first large-scale screening in a vertebrate animal for genes that regulate sleep, and have identified a gene that when overactivated causes severe insomnia. Expression of the gene, neuromedin U (Nmu), also seems to serve as nature's stimulant--fish lacking the gene take longer to wake up in the morning and are less active during the day.
A UCLA study has found that the state agency responsible for protecting Californians from the dangers of pesticides is failing to assess the health risks likely posed by pesticide mixtures, which are believed to be more harmful than individual pesticides.
Individuals subjected to chronic low-dose exposure to organochlorine pesticides show and increased risk to obtain a future diagnosis of cognitive impairment. This is shown in a study now published in Environmental International.
New research explores the impact of hunter-gatherers on north Pacific marine food webs and the behaviors that helped preserve their network of food sources. The findings hold implications for modern food webs.
Astronomer discovered a new source that confirmed the fact that binary systems with strong colliding stellar winds comprise a separate new population of high-energy gamma-ray sources.
A qualitative study finds that most people who have lost a lot of weight don’t perceive themselves as being “judged” because they used to be overweight or obese – which contradicts earlier research that people were still stigmatized even after reaching a healthy weight.
A spate of major earthquakes on small faults could overturn traditional views about how earthquakes start, according to a study from researchers at the Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior in Ensenada, Mexico, and the University of California, Davis.
Bullying is common, with up to one-third of children worldwide facing peer victimization, and extremely low birth weight children are even more likely to be victims. ELBW children may be at risk for being bullied because of poor motor abilities, more anxiety and struggles at school, the study says.
A study at Oregon State University has concluded that significant outbreaks of viruses may be associated with coral bleaching events, especially as a result of multiple environmental stresses.
Swimmers and divers who are prone to a sudden and potentially life-threatening form of pulmonary edema in cold water could benefit from a simple and readily available dose of sildenafil, according to findings from a small study by Duke Health researchers.
A new weakly electric mormyrid fish genus of two new species has been described from only three specimens collected over a period of 13 years in the rivers of the Central African country of Gabon. The genus has been named Cryptomyrus, meaning 'hidden fish' in Greek, and is the first new genus to be described within the family Mormyridae since 1977.
Einstein's general theory of relativity predicts the emission of gravitational waves by massive celestial bodies moving though space-time. For the past century gravitational waves have eluded a direct detection, but now the LIGO Virgo Collaboration has announced the first direct detection of gravitational waves, emitted by a merging pair of black holes.
Even though social media spending has climbed sharply in the last five years, U.S. companies report its contributions to company performance are weak, a new survey finds.
Coral reef islands and atolls in the Pacific are predominantly surrounded by vast areas of ocean that have very low nutrient levels and low ecological production. However, the ecosystems near these islands and atolls are often extremely productive and support an enhanced nearshore food-web, leading to an abundance of species and increased local fisheries.
Impression management refers to an individual's deliberate efforts to control or influence other people's perceptions. Sometimes impression management occurs in reaction to face threats: unfavorable incidents that undercut a person's ability to cultivate and maintain a desirable self-image on social networking sites (SNSs).
Cyber thieves who steal credit and debit card numbers are making millions of dollars in profits, fueling a global criminal enterprise marked by the high-profile data breaches of major companies such as Target and Home Depot.
In one of the first reproductive studies to focus on young men and fatherhood, researchers at Northwestern Medicine found that an adolescent male’s attitude toward risky sex, pregnancy and birth control can predict whether or not he will end up living with his future offspring.
Two new Cornell University studies show how diverse marine organisms are susceptible to diseases made worse by warming oceans.
The first study warns that warm sea temperatures in 2015 may increase the levels of epizootic shell disease in American lobster in the northern Gulf of Maine in 2016. The second provides the first evidence linking warmer ocean temperatures with a West Coast epidemic of sea star wasting disease that has infected more than 20 species and devastated populations since 2013.
Analysis of artifacts found on the shores of Rapa Nui, Chile (Easter Island) originally thought to be used as spear points reveal that these objects were likely general purpose tools instead, providing evidence contrary to the widely held belief that the ancient civilization was destroyed by warfare.
According to Carl Lipo, professor of anthropology at Binghamton University and lead on the study, the traditional story for Rapa Nui holds that the people, before Europeans arrived, ran out of resources and, as a result, engaged in massive in-fighting, which led to their collapse. One of the pieces of evidence used to support this theory is the thousands of obsidian, triangular objects found on the surface, known as mata’a. Because of their large numbers and because they’re made of sharp glass, many believe the mata’a to be the weapons of war that the ancient inhabitants of the island used for interpersonal violence
Understanding the complex geological processes that form supervolcanoes could ultimately help geologists determine what triggers their eruptions. A new study using an advanced computer model casts doubt on previously held theories about the Yellowstone supervolcano’s origins, adding to the mystery of Yellowstone’s formation.
Researchers today announced in the journal Nature Plants the discovery of the first-ever fossil specimens of an "asterid" - a family of flowering plants that gave us everything from the potato to tomatoes, tobacco, petunias and our morning cup of coffee.
A team of researchers at the University of Connecticut is reexamining a decades-long debate as to whether deaf children should learn sign language to maximize their potential for optimal development.
If you’re enjoying a lovely day on the beach, there’s something you should do if the ground shakes, the water retreats or the ocean make a strange noise. “Run,” said Elena Suleimani, because those are signs that a tsunami is coming. “It’s a matter of minutes. Don’t return for at least twelve hours.”
After 30 years in prison on a wrongful rape conviction, George D. Perrot was freed Wednesday, thanks in part to the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis.
n a Harrisburg, Pa., Federal courtroom 11 years ago, Brown University biologist Kenneth Miller was the first witness in a historic takedown of Intelligent Design's pretense of scientific relevance. In the context of ongoing culture wars over evolution, climate change, stem cell research and vaccination, Miller will reunite with figures from the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial to review that trial's lessons at the annual meeting of the AAAS in Washington, D.C., Feb. 13, 2016.
UW astronomers Breanna Binder and Ben Williams have identified a rare type of 'supernova impostor' in a nearby galaxy, with implications for how scientists look at the short, complex lives of massive stars.
A team of Montana State University paleontologists have identified several new types of dinosaurs from fossil evidence discovered in eastern Idaho, demonstrating the presence of a much more diverse group of theropods in the area than was previously known.
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