Worm lizards dispersed by 'rafting' over oceans, not continental drift

Tiny, burrowing reptiles known as worm lizards became widespread long after the breakup of the continents, leading scientists to conclude that they must have dispersed by rafting across oceans soon after the extinction of the dinosaurs, rather than by continental drift as previously thought.



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Tiny songbird discovered to migrate non-stop, 1,500 miles over the Atlantic

For the first time biologists report 'irrefutable evidence' that tiny blackpoll warblers complete a nonstop flight from about 1,410 to 1,721 miles (2,270 to 2,770 km) in just two to three days. For this work the scientists fitted geolocator packs on 20 birds in Vermont and 20 more in Nova Scotia. They were able to recapture three birds from the Vermont group and two from the Nova Scotia group for analyses.



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Cultivating timeflow: Can consumers shape how they experience time?

Why does time seem to crawl if you're waiting in line at the post office, but hours can fly by in minutes when you're doing something fun? A new study examines the factors that determine how consumers experience time.



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Saving money: Do consumers spend less if they think about the future?

Why is it so hard for consumers to save money? According to a new study, consumers are often impatient and do not think about the long-term consequences of spending money.



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When are consumers more likely to rely on feelings to make decisions?

Why do some consumers make choices based on their feelings instead of rational assessments? According to a new study, consumers who consider themselves independent are more inclined to rely on feelings when making decisions.



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How are ordinary consumers transforming the fashion business?

One of the most important shifts of the 21st century is the ability of consumers to participate in markets they love such as music and fashion. A new study reveals how ordinary consumers have changed the inner workings of the fashion business by sharing their passion for fashion on a wide variety of websites.



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A matter of taste: When do products benefit from mixed reviews?

How do consumers react to products with diverse online reviews? According to a new study, a mix of positive and negative reviews can benefit products that are evaluated based on personal taste.



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Do consumers think products are better when companies donate to charity?

Does hearing about a company's charitable donations raise your opinion of their products? According to a new study, corporate social responsibility leads consumers to believe products are better quality.



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Chronic loneliness in older adults leads to more doctors' office visits, study finds

Experiences of loneliness and social isolation can lead to increased health care use among older adults, according to new research. The study found that the frequency of physician visits was particularly influenced by chronic loneliness -- and suggests that the identification and targeting of interventions for lonely elders may significantly decrease physician visits and health care costs.



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Folic acid may help elderly weather heat waves

Supplemental folic acid can enhance blood vessel dilation in older adults, according to researchers, suggesting that folic acid supplements may be an inexpensive alternative for helping older adults to increase skin blood flow during heat waves and reduce cardiovascular events.



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Daily dam releases on Massachusetts' deerfield river reduce downstream flows

In the first-of-its-kind study of the environmental effects of hydropeaking, that is releasing water at hydropower dams to meet peak daily electricity demand, two researchers say their unexpected findings suggest that about 10 percent of released water may be permanently lost, making that water unavailable to downstream users and wildlife.



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Scientists one step closer to finding how to repair damaged nerve cells

A team of researchers has uncovered a new kind of synergy in the development of the nervous system, which explains an important mechanism required for neural circuits to form properly. This breakthrough could eventually help develop tools to repair nerve cells following injuries to the nervous system (such as the brain and spinal cord).



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Discovering missing body parts of ancient fossils: Waves and storms lifted fossils off the seafloor 550 million years ago

Certain specimens of the fossil Dickinsonia are incomplete because ancient currents lifted them from the sea floor, a team of paleontologists has found. Sand then got deposited beneath the lifted portion, the researchers report, strongly suggesting that Dickinsonia was mobile, easily separated from the sea floor and not attached to the substrate on which it lived.



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Better method for forecasting hurricane season

A better method for predicting the number of hurricanes in an upcoming season has been developed by atmospheric scientists. The team's new model improves the accuracy of seasonal hurricane forecasts for the North Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico by 23 percent.



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Model Helps City Planners Prepare to Weather Large Storms

Researchers have developed a modeling tool to help local communities better understand their vulnerabilities to large storms stoked by climate change.



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Can 'ghosts' cause bad air? Poor indoor air quality and 'sightings'

A team of researchers is studying possible links between reported hauntings and indoor air quality. It is known that some fungi, such as rye ergot fungus, may cause severe psychosis in humans.



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Protein may improve liver regeneration: GF21 boosts regenerative ability in mice carrying human PPAR alpha protein

Researchers have illuminated an important distinction between mice and humans: how human livers heal. The difference centers on a protein called PPAR alpha which activates liver regeneration.



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A robot prepared for self-awareness: Expanded software architecture for walking robot Hector

A year ago, researchers showed that their software endowed the walking robot Hector with a simple form of consciousness. Their new research goes one step further: they have now developed a software architecture that could enable Hector to see himself as others see him. “With this, he would have reflexive consciousness,” explains an expert. The architecture is based on artificial neural networks.



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Skin tough: Why skin is resistant to tearing

Researchers have recorded the first direct observations of the micro-scale mechanisms behind the ability of skin to resist tearing. The results could be applied to the improvement of artificial skin, or to the development of thin film polymers for flexible electronics.



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Early education narrows the achievement gap with younger starts and longer stays

New research reveals high-quality early education is especially advantageous for children when they start younger and continue longer. Not only does more high-quality early education significantly boost the language skills of children from low-income families, children whose first language is not English benefit even more.



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Stereotypes persist that class, privilege determine intellect and success

A meritocracy holds that if you work hard enough, you can succeed in life, regardless of race, religion, gender or social status. But a new study suggests that, despite egalitarian efforts to downplay class as a forecaster for intelligence and achievement, many people still believe their destiny is tied to their station in life.



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Soil organic matter susceptible to climate change

Soil organic matter, long thought to be a semi-permanent storehouse for ancient carbon, may be much more vulnerable to climate change than previously thought. Scientists have found that the common root secretion, oxalic acid, can promote soil carbon loss by an unconventional mechanism -- freeing organic compounds from protective associations with minerals.



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Exercise largely absent from US medical school curriculum, study shows

Fewer than half of the physicians trained in the United States in 2013 received formal education or training on the subject of exercise, according to new research. "There are immense medical benefits to exercise; it can help as much as medicine to address some health concerns," said a national expert on the benefits of physical activity. "Because exercise has medicinal as well as other benefits, I was surprised that medical schools didn't spend more time on it."



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Bullying by students with disabilities reduced by social-emotional learning

Peer victimization -- bullying -- declined 20 percent among students with disabilities who participated in Second Step social-emotional learning curricula, authors of a new study report. More than 120 students with disabilities at two school districts in the Midwest United States participated in the research, which was part of a larger three-year clinical trial of the widely used social-emotional learning curricula Second Step.



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In Alzheimer's mice, memory restored with cancer drug

Memory and as well as connections between brain cells were restored in mice with a model of Alzheimer's given an experimental cancer drug, researchers report. "With this treatment, cells under bombardment by beta amyloid plaques show restored synaptic connections and reduced inflammation, and the animal's memory, which was lost during the course of the disease, comes back," said the senior author of the study.



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Impact of domestic violence on women's mental health

In addition to their physical injuries, women who are victims of domestic violence are also at a greater risk of mental health problems such as depression and psychotic symptoms. "We studied the impact of domestic violence on the risk of mental health problems, particularly depression," explained the first study author. "We also studied the role of certain factors from the victims' personal history, such as childhood abuse and economic poverty," she explained.



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How a deadly fungus evades the immune system

New research has scientists re-thinking how a lethal fungus grows and kills immune cells. The study hints at a new approach to therapy for Candida albicans, one of the most common causes of bloodstream infections.



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Generous welfare benefits make people more likely to want to work, not less

Generous welfare benefit levels make people who are not in employment more likely to want to work rather than less, new research suggests. "Many scholars and commentators fear that generous social benefits threaten the sustainability of the welfare state due to work norm erosion, disincentives to work and dependency cultures," the researchers say. "This article concludes that there are few signs that groups with traditionally weaker bonds to the labor market are less motivated to work if they live in generous and activating welfare states."



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Pig-borne disease most likely jumped into humans when rearing practices changed

The most virulent strains of Streptococcus suis, the leading cause of bacterial meningitis in adult humans in parts of southeast Asia and in pigs around the world, are likely to have evolved and become widespread in pigs at the same time as changes in rearing practices, according to research from an international consortium.



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Why slimy cheats don’t win: 'Cheating' amoebae don't survive better than 'cooperating' amoebae

Darwin's evolutionary theory predicts survival of the fittest. So why do different survival tactics co-exist, if evolution should always favor the winning strategy? To answer that question scientists have been studying a single-celled amoeba, also known as slime mold, which displays certain behaviors that have been labelled as "cheating" or "cooperating." They found that cheaters don't necessarily win in terms of overall survival, suggesting that biologists should re-evaluate how they define and measure social cooperation.



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Discovery of two new species of primitive fishes

Paleontologists have discovered two new species of Saurichthys. The ~242 million year old predatory fishes were found in the fossil Lagerstätte Monte San Giorgio, in Ticino. They are distinct from previously known Saurichthys species in the shape of the head and body, suggesting different habitats and diet.



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Scientists find clues into cognitive dysfunction in chronic fatigue syndrome

A unique pattern of immune molecules in the cerebrospinal fluid of people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome have been discovered, providing insights into the basis for cognitive dysfunction --frequently described by patients as 'brain fog'-- as well as new hope for improvements in diagnosis and treatment.



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What 300,000 year old eggshells reveal about the environment of the Paleolithic

In the 1990s the discovery of the oldest human made and completely preserved wooden hunting weapons made the Paleolithic excavation site in Schoningen internationally renowned. Contained within the 300,000 year-old deposits on a former lake shore in what is now Lower Saxony organic materials remain extremely well preserved, including eggshells that scientists were able to identify as eggshell remains from various species of birds.



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Innovative strategies needed to address US transplant organ shortage

As the United States faces transplant waiting lists that continue to grow longer over time, there is increasing debate about the proper way to incentivize living donations. Due to organ shortages, thousands of Americans are on transplant waiting lists for 5 or more years as their health deteriorates, and more than 1,000 of them die each year.



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Kids allowed to 'sip' alcohol may start drinking earlier

Children who get a taste of their parents' wine now and then may be more likely than their peers to start drinking by high school, according to a new report. The findings are based on 561 Rhode Island middle school students who were surveyed periodically over three years. At the beginning of sixth grade (around age 11), almost 30 percent of students said they'd ever sipped alcohol. In most cases, their parents provided it--often at a party or other special occasion.



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Citizen tweeters: How Twitter users can work together to defuse social tensions

A new report outlines how citizen and professional journalists use Twitter to correct misinformation in order to defuse tension between Loyalist and Republican communities in Northern Ireland.



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South-east England ahead on genetic tests for inherited eye conditions

New research reveals a stark variation in genetic testing services for inherited eye disease in England. The study shows that service provision in the North-east is much lower than expected based on population size and demographics, while in London and the South-east, it's much higher.



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New pathways into the cell: Fundamental insights into drug delivery processes

Chemists, biologists and pharmacologists deal with the question of how complex active substances can be introduced into cells such that they are rapidly and easily available. Building on earlier research, interdisciplinary teams of scientists have made some important advancements.



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New concept: Can Resuscitation be delayed?

A team of researchers has laid the foundation for new resuscitation guidelines for severely hypothermic patients in cardiac arrest. The general rule for treatment of patients in cardiac arrest is that once resuscitation measures have begun, they must be continued uninterruptedly until the patient shows signs of life or is pronounced dead. A new study has shown that in the specific case of severely hypothermic victims with a core body temperature below 28°C, resuscitation can be delayed and periodically interrupted for short intervals during transportation in the mountains without jeopardizing survival.



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Why flowers bloom earlier in a warming climate

Scientists have discovered why the first buds of spring come increasingly earlier as the climate changes. As the climate changes the sweet spot for seeds comes earlier in the year, so first flowers bloom correspondingly earlier too, they say.



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Particulate air pollution: Exposure to ultrafine particles influences cardiac function

The adverse health effects caused by fine particles have been known for some time. In addition, ultrafine particles appear to play a significant role in cardiac function – even if an individual is exposed to these for only a few minutes, scientists have now demonstrated.



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Biology in a twist: Deciphering the origins of cell behavior

The inherent ‘handedness’ of molecular structures directs the behavior of individual cells and confers them the ability to sense the difference between left and right. This is a significant step forward in the understanding of cellular biology, investigators say.



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Unique mechanism of natural product with powerful antimicrobial action revealed

Scientists have uncovered the unique mechanism of a powerful natural product with wide-ranging antifungal, antibacterial, anti-malaria and anti-cancer effects. The work sheds light on the natural small molecule known as borrelidin. "Our study may help the rational design of compounds similar to borrelidin with a range of useful applications, particularly in cancer," said the leader of the study.



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Five years after Deepwater Horizon, wildlife still struggling dolphins dying in high numbers; sea turtles failing to nest

As the five-year anniversary of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig approaches, a new report looks at how twenty species of wildlife are faring in the aftermath of the disaster.



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The 100 million year-old piggyback: Amber reveals earliest example of maternal care in insects

Scientists have uncovered the earliest fossilized evidence of an insect caring for its young. The findings push back the earliest direct evidence of insect brood care by more than 50 million years, to at least 100 million years ago when dinosaurs dominated the earth.



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ALMA disentangles complex birth of giant stars

Astronomers have conducted observations of the massive-star forming region IRAS 16547-4247. The observation results shows the presence of multiple, or at least two, gas outflows from a protostar, indicating the possible existence of two new-born stars in this region. Also, the radio observation results of molecular line emission of methanol revealed in vivid detail an hourglass structure created by gas outflows spreading outward while thrusting the ambient gas cloud away. It is the first time that such an hourglass structure was found in observations of methanol in high-mass star forming regions. Detailed observations of high-mass stars have been considered difficult so far because high-mass stars form in a complex environment with multiple protostars in clusters, and their forming regions are located farther away from the Earth compared to those of low-mass stars. However, high angular resolution observations with ALMA opened a new window to understand their formation environment in further details.



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Rodeo in liquid crystal: Unprecedented level of control over defects

Scientists have achieved an unprecedented level of control over defects in liquid crystals that can be engineered for applications in liquid matter photonics. Sitting with a joystick in the comfort of their chairs, scientists can play "rodeo" on a screen magnifying what is happening under their microscope. They rely on optical tweezers to manipulate an intangible ring created out of liquid crystal defects capable of attaching a microsphere to a long thin fiber.



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Stop blaming the moon: Intelligent people can develop strong entirely incorrect beliefs

The moon does not influence the timing of human births or hospital admissions, a new study finds, confirming what astronomers have known for decades. The study illustrates how intelligent people develop strong beliefs that are incorrect.



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Cancer-targeting mechanism under development

Researchers are developing molecules that bind to more than 60 types of cancer. Several are being tested in early-stage clinical trials, including one for brain cancer. These custom-made molecules can carry either a "flag" that shines brightly in standard medical scanners or a bit of radiation to kill the targeted cancer cells.



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Intelligent neuroprostheses mimic natural motor control

Neuroscientists are taking inspiration from natural motor control to design new prosthetic devices that can better replace limb function. Researchers have tested a range of brain-controlled devices -- from wheelchairs to robots to advanced limbs -- that work with their users to intelligently perform tasks.



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