US News | Science Discoveries

Toddler Vision

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:10:58 EST

A new study done by researchers at the University of Massachusetts found that when a TV is on in a room both the quantity and the quality of the interactions between parents and their children drops. The researchers studied about 50 1-, 2-, and 3-year-olds, each of whom was placed with one of their parents in two half-hour sessions.

Virtual Vacation

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:10:44 EST

A new computer algorithm developed at the University of Washington uses hundreds of thousands of tourist photos to automatically reconstruct entire cities in about a day. The tool harnesses the increasingly large digital photo collections available on photo-sharing Web sites such as Flickr.

Ardi-Facts

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:10:48 EST

An international team of scientists has for the first time thoroughly described Ardipithecus ramidus, a hominid species that lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia. The female skeleton, nicknamed Ardi, is 4.4 million years old, 1.2 million years older than the skeleton of Lucy.

Bacterial Bouncers

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:10:54 EST

A team of researchers in Denmark, at the University of California, Davis, and at UC Berkeley have identified a group of plant proteins that "shut the door" on bacteria that would otherwise infect the plant's leaves. The findings provide a better understanding of plants' immune systems and will likely find application in better protecting crops and horticultural plants against diseases.

Mind Scans

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:09:52 EST

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say you're more likely to scan a room, jumping from object to object as you search for something. In addition, the timing of these jumps appears to be determined by waves of activity in the brain that act as a clock.

Rock the House

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:09:24 EST

Stanford engineers and others have created a structural design that lets buildings rock during earthquakes, then correct themselves when the shaking stops, confining damage to replaceable steel "fuses."

Cloak Works

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:09:47 EST

University of Utah mathematicians have developed a brand new cloaking method that functions through wave cancellation and could someday shield submarines from sonar, planes from radar, buildings from earthquakes, and coastal structures from tsunamis. Most previous research used interior cloaking, where the cloaking device envelops the cloaked object. Researchers say this new method "is the first active, exterior cloaking" technique.

Trained Ear

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 03:09:53 EST

A Northwestern University study is the first of its kind and demostrates that having musical training can help a listener distinguish between background noise and sound that the listener is meant to hear.

Computer Personal

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 03:09:09 EST

Oregon State University researchers are pioneering the concept of "rich interaction" -- computers that do, in fact, want to communicate with, learn from, and get to know you better as a person.

Pilot Program

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 03:09:21 EST

University of Illinois researchers report that they have assembled a new cancer drug delivery system that, in a cell culture, is able kill tumor cells and spare healthy cells.

Bake 'n Flake

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 02:09:58 EST

An international team of researchers deduced that early modern humans living on the coast of the southern tip of Africa used fire to increase the quality and the effectiveness of their stone tools.

Fish Futures

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 03:08:32 EST

Scientists found that highly managed fisheries caused 10 large troubled fish stocks to grow over the course of the study.

Random Access Memories

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 03:08:32 EST

Researchers found that students with high memory storage capacities are better able to ignore distractions and stay focused on their assigned tasks.

Making Faces

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 03:08:32 EST

A hyper-realistic Einstein robot at the University of California, San Diego has learned to smile and make facial expressions through a process of self-guided learning.

Fluid Motion

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 03:08:29 EST

Reseachers at the University of Michigan are using sound waves to push sample fluids through tiny detectors that are only millimeters or centimeters in size.

Diamond Delivery

Thu, 6 Aug 2009 03:08:45 EST

Using nanodiamonds, researchers at Northwestern University have deomonstrated a method for delivering and releasing curative medicines to a specific location in the body.

Vanishing Act

Thu, 6 Aug 2009 03:08:04 EST

A team of computer scientists at the University of Washington developed a prototype system called Vanish that can place a time limit on information uploaded to the internet that causes all the information to become useless when the time is up.

Game On

Tue, 4 Aug 2009 03:08:30 EST

Chemists at Stanford University have created new algorithms that use the computer technology behind today's video game systems to rapidly calculate and depict the structure of molecules.

Mind Readers

Tue, 21 July 2009 03:06:00 EST

A University of Utah study shows that brain signals controlling arm movements can be detected accurately using new microelectrodes that sit on the brain but don't penetrate it.

Finger Index

Tue, 21 July 2009 03:06:00 EST

A University of Southern California research team found that whether or not a person moves their finger from side to side quickly or slowly, they are able to maintain almost the same amount of downward force on an object. This finding calls into question theories that are over 70 years old regarding how human muscles function.

Past Leaves

Thu, 9 July 2009 03:06:00 EST

Researchers from Dublin's University College have unearthed striking evidence for a sudden ancient collapse in plant biodiversity. A trove of 200 million year-old fossilized leaves point to rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Upping the Anti

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:06:00 EST

Two physicists at Washington State University have developed a concept for a 100% efficient, portable fuel cell that uses positrons from antimatter as its energy source.

Wet and Wild

Thu, 4 Jun 2009 03:06:00 EST

Researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, are studying the physical property of repelling water known as super-hydrophobia. Through computer aided tests, researches pinpointed what allows the surface of some plants and animals to always repel water.

Vicarious Thrill

Thu, 4 Jun 2009 03:06:49 EST

A new study out of Harvard and the University of Virginia finds that you are more likely to know what will make you happy if you ask a total stranger. Another person's experiences are often more informative than your own best guess.

Changing Change

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:04:31 EST

The threat of climate change can still be greatly diminished if nations cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent during this century. Global temperatures would still rise, but events like sea-level rise might be partially avoided.

Blow Flies

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:04:55 EST

A Caltech biologist and his research team have indentified how the antennea of fruit flies process the feeling of wind and then how the flies respond by standing completely still.

Flextronics

Wed, 8 Apr 2009 02:04:48 EST

Researchers at Cornell University and the University of Melbourne, Australia, are fabricating organic semiconducting materials from a gentle solvent called Supercritical Carbon Dioxide.

High Life

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:03:07 EST

A University of Colorado at Boulder research team has determined that gases rising from deep within the Earth, fuel the world's highest known microbial ecosystems, which were detected near the rim of the Socompa volcano in the Andes.

Global Worming

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:03:44 EST

Two researchers at Brigham Young University are studying the impacts of global warming on Antartica's ecosystem by looking at the relationship between rising temperatures and a specialized worm that makes its own antifreeze.

Quantum Leap

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:02:45 EST

Scientists at the Universities of Maryland and Michigan along with those at the Joint Quantum Institute have, for the first time ever, sucessfully teleported information between two atoms at a distance of one meter.

Food Plight

Tue, 3 Feb 2009 02:02:36 EST

New research conducted by the Univeristy of Washington and Stanford University shows that a rapidly warming climate is likely to seriously damage crop production within the tropics and subtropics by the end of this century.

Bac-Tery Powered

Mon, 2 Feb 2009 08:02:00 EST

Researchers at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities are studying a remarkable species of becteria that produces electric current when attached to a graphite electrode or other conductive surface.

Plasticity

Mon, 2 Feb 2009 08:02:59 EST

A research team at the University of Wisconsin at Madison has uncovered what makes plastics so malleable. Molecules that make up plastics can rearrange themselves up to 1,000 times faster while under stress, giving them the ability to flow or bend.

Swat Team

Mon, 2 Feb 2009 08:02:09 EST

Researchers at the University of Central Florida are teaming up with the Virtual Reality Medical Center to immerse stroke survivors in a virtual game-world that is full of flying insects with the goal of expanding the survivors' range of movement.

Multi-Faceted

Mon, 2 Feb 2009 08:02:23 EST

A Northwestern University research team has developed a promising nanomaterial-based biomedical device that could be used to deliver chemotheraphy drugs locally to sites where cancerous tumors have been surgically removed.

Shrinky Dinghies

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 10:01:23 EST

A research team at Penn State University has used chemicals to create nano-motors that drive nanoparticles from one location to another.

Gear Head

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:01:43 EST

Researchers at Purdue University and The Catholic University of America have proposed a new mechanism for how the motor inside of a virus works in order to propel the virus from one location to another.

Gender Render

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 04:01:14 EST

A professor at Brown University has determined that men's faces tend to have a more reddish skin tone, while a greenish facial skin tone is more common for women.

"Tool Time"

Sun, 19 Dec 2008 17:06:00 EST

Georgetown University researcher studies subset of bottlenose dolphin that uses marine sponges as a tool to hunt for food.

"Bac-Tery Powered"

Sun, 15 Dec 2008 17:06:00 EST

Researchers at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities are studying a remarkable species of becteria that produces electric current when attached to a graphite electrode or other conductive surface.

"Ruly Bully"

Sun, 2 Dec 2008 17:06:00 EST

Brain scans of young, aggressive bullies suggest they may actually enjoy seeing others in pain, according to a new University of Chicago study.

"Swat Team"

Sun, 2 Dec 2008 17:06:00 EST

Green Mile

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:11:02 EST

Nalini Nadkarni of Evergreen State College currently advises a team of researchers, who also happen to be inmates at Cedar Creek Corrections Center, on how best to cultivate slow-growing mosses that are reguarly stripped from Pacific Northwest forests by horticulturalists.

Foam Corps

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:11:43 EST

An ultra-high-strength composite metal foam developed by engineers at North Carolina State University helps absorb the energy from impacts better than any known metal foam, offering applications in many safety devices.

Ground Control

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:10:10 EST

Iowa State researchers are working on creating high tech networks of underground sensors that could be buried throughout a farmer's field to supply the farmer with constant feedback on soil moisture and other ground conditions.

Multi-Faceted

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:10:32 EST

Collateral Damage

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:10:02 EST

Pine bark beetles appear to be doing more than killing large swaths of forests in the Rocky Mountains. Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, suspect that their hunger for trees is also altering local weather patterns and air quality.

Fear Factor

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:10:48 EST

Researchers at Emory University have located a protein that might play a key role in the formation and retention of fear memory. The researchers removed this protein from cells and, when this was done, their test subjects were less frightened by the same things that once gave them great fear.

Sugar Rush

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:09:05 EST

Research teams from Virent Energy Systems and the University of Wisconsin at Madison have successfully converted sugar--potentially derived from agricultural waste and non-food plants--into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and a range of other valuable chemicals.

Night Moves

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:09:28 EST

A team of biologists from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, UC San Diego and Oregon State University has identified the genes that enable plants to undergo bursts of rhythmic growth at night and allow them to compete when their leaves are shaded by other plants.

Going, Going, Guam

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:09:58 EST

New research conducted by University of Washington biologists suggests that the invasive brown tree snake has had an indirect impact on Guam's forests due to the snake's hunting of the island's bird population to near extinction.

Buggles

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 03:09:13 EST

MIT mathematicians have now figured out exactly how hundreds of types of insect species are able to spend much of their time under water. When these insects submerge, their rough, water repellent coats trap air next to their bodies and form a small airpocket from which to breathe.

Tongue Drive

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:08:52 EST

Engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new assistive technology, the Tongue Drive system, which could help individuals with severe disabilities lead more independent lives by allowing them to operate powered wheelchairs and computers using only their tongues.

In Your Face

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 03:08:42 EST

Princeton psychology researchers have developed a computer program that allows scientists to understand better then ever before what it is about certain human faces that makes them appear either trustworthy or fearsome.

Cran It

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:08:22 EST

A 'Crantastic Voyage' into the urinary tract to see just how cranberry juice works on infection. Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute reveal that the juice changes the properties of bacteria that cause urinary tract infection and creates an energy barrier that prevents them from adhering to cells.

Break Water

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 03:08:43 EST

In a major leap that could transform solar power from a marginal energy source into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine. Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy.

Deep Voices

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:07:34 EST

New research shows that vocal communication evolved from ancient fish species.

Combined Forces

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:28 EST

Cancer cells use tricks to hide from our body's immune system. One trick is to mask their presence in the body. Now, a bioengineer from Yale University has created cell-sized plastic spheres that both prep the immune system to recognize specific diseases and also increase the immune system's fighting force.

Car Watch

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:07:28 EST

The annoying blare of an ignored car alarm may become a sound of the past if a cooperative, muteable and silent network of monitors proposed by Penn State University researchers is deployed in automobiles and in parking lots.

Primal Urges

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:07:07 EST

A mass grave of skeletons in southwestern Germany suggests that neighboring tribes from prehistoric times were prepared to kill their male rivals to secure their women.

Degrees of Survival

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:07:48 EST

University of Washington scientists have found that species living in the tropical centers of the world are likely to face greater peril from global warming than those species located in cooler climates, because their tolerance for temperature increases is much narrower.

Happy Trails

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:06:59 EST

Americans grow happier as they grow older, according to social science researchers at the University of Chicago, whose 33-year study is one of the most thorough examinations of happiness ever done in America.

Frogantuan

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:06:40 EST

A team of researchers, led by a Stony Brook University paleontologist, discovered the remains of what may be the largest frog ever to exist. The fossilized remains of this 16-inch, 10-pound ancient frog were found in Madagascar and link a group of frogs that lived 65-70 million years ago with frogs living today in South America.

Links in E-mail Chain Letters Not Well Connected

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:06:20 EST

It was once thought that e-mail chain letters traveled to internet users in much the same way that disease spreads during an epidemic--people receive a message and then pass it on to those they come in contact with. However, new research from Cornell University and Carleton College suggests that e-mail chain letters travel in a less direct, more diffuse pattern than previously assumed.

Fragrant Violation

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:06:01 EST

Air pollution from power plants and automobiles is diminishing the fragrance of flowers and thereby inhibiting the ability of pollinating insects to follow scent trails to their source, a new University of Virginia study indicates.

True Lies

Mon, 9 Jun 2008 10:06:25 EST

Two researchers at Cornell University argue that children are more likely to tell the truth while under oath in court because their minds depend heavily on remembering what actually occurred, as opposed to adults, whose minds depend heavily on the meaning or interpretation of what occurred.

Maglev Mouse

Mon, 9 Jun 2008 10:06:16 EST

Thanks to a touch-based interface developed at Carnegie Mellon University, computers that have long been used as tools in designing and manipulating three-dimensional objects may soon provide people with a way to sense or feel the texture of those same objects.

On A Roll

Tue, 20 May 2008 02:05:15 EST

MIT and University of Rochester researchers report important advances toward a therapeutic device that has the potential to capture cells as they flow through the blood stream and to treat them. Among other applications, such a device could zap cancer cells spreading to other tissues.

Blues Light Special

Tue, 20 May 2008 02:05:44 EST

A team of behavioral scientists from four major U.S. universities found that people who feel sad and self-focused are willing to pay more money for goods than those in neutral states of feeling.

Caf? Latte Batte

Mon, 12 May 2008 11:05:41 EST

At a time when bat populations are declining worldwide, a new University of Michigan study shows the bat's impact on ecological systems. The study reveals that bats exceed birds in their ability to devour coffee-eating insects on organic coffee farms.

Tiny Tunes

Mon, 12 May 2008 10:05:26 EST

Researchers at the University of Rochester have made it possible to digitally reproduce music in a file nearly 1,000 times smaller than a regular MP3 file by recreating in a computer both the real world physics of a clarinet and the physics of a clarinet player.

Gasoline Plant

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:04:51 EST

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst have made a breakthrough in the development of green gasoline, a liquid identical to standard gasoline yet created from sustainable biomass sources like switchgrass and poplar trees.

Tropical Hunch

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:04:19 EST

Using global databases and sophisticated computer models to analyze patterns of emerging diseases, scientists from four well-known institutions are able for the first time to plot, map and predict where future pandemics might originate.

Companion Pieces

Thu, 3 Apr 2008 02:04:00 EST

New research at the University of Chicago finds evidence for a clever way that people manage to alleviate the pain of loneliness: They create people in their surroundings to keep them company.

Flight Path

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 04:03:02 EST

A new study from the University of Montana Flight Laboratory regarding the evolution of flight suggests birds evolved by learning to use their wings to run up steep surfaces in order to avoid predators and, eventually, became strong enough for true flight.

Vote of Confidence?

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:03:13 EST

Electronic voting technology easily passes the tests of voter confidence and satisfaction, but users still make too many mistakes, says a major new study led by the University of Maryland and conducted with the University of Rochester and the University of Michigan.

Systematic Search

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:02:57 EST

A team of international astronomers reported the discovery of a solar system nearly 5,000 light years away containing scaled-down versions of Jupiter and Saturn, suggesting that our galaxy could conceivably contain many star systems similar to our own.