Study evaluates biodiversity impacts of alternative energy strategies
Climate change mitigation efforts have led to shifts from fossil-fuel dependence to large-scale renewable energy. However, renewable energy sources require significant land and could come at a cost to ecosystems. A new study led by Ryan McManamay, Ph.D., assistant professor of environmental science at Baylor University, evaluates potential conflicts between alternative energy strategies and biodiversity […]
Are There Any Benefits to Crying? Is Crying Good for You
Is crying good for you? Crying can have physical and emotional benefits to our health Crying is something we have done since the moment we were born, the crucial action that helped fill our lungs with air. But as we grow older, we are often conditioned to think that crying is a sign of weakness […]
Are There Any Benefits to Crying? Is Crying Good for You
Is crying good for you? Crying can have physical and emotional benefits to our health Crying is something we have done since the moment we were born, the crucial action that helped fill our lungs with air. But as we grow older, we are often conditioned to think that crying is a sign of weakness […]
More filling? Tastes great? How flies, and maybe people, choose their food
Flies have discriminating taste. Like a gourmet perusing a menu, they spend much of their time seeking sweet nutritious calories and avoiding bitter, potentially toxic food. But what happens in their brains when they make these food choices? Yale researchers discovered an interesting way to find out. They tricked them. In a study that could […]
Role of dopamine in songbird’s brain plasticity: Neurotransmitter shown to be a key driver in sensory processing
Neuroscientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have demonstrated in new research that dopamine plays a key role in how songbirds learn complex new sounds. Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the finding that dopamine drives plasticity in the auditory pallium of zebra finches lays new groundwork for advancing the understanding of the functions of […]
Suicidality in Black Youth; Win for Schizo Agent; COVID Leaves Teens Hopeless
Compared with white peers, Black youth under the age of 13 have double the rate of suicide. On top of that, the rate of Black youth who contemplated suicide rose in the past decade from 12.95% to 16.89%. “Applying the white-centric lens that has driven existing suicide research is not sufficient to solving the increasing […]
Where are the Foreigners of the First International Age? Researchers use genetic and isotopic data to investigate human mobility at the Bronze Age city of Alalakh in Turkey
The Bronze Age in the eastern Mediterranean has long been considered by researchers to have been the ‘first international age,’ especially the period from 1600-1200 BC, when powerful empires from Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Egypt set up large networks of subordinate client kingdoms in the Near East. These empires fought, traded, and corresponded with one another, […]
Protein ‘big bang’ reveals molecular makeup for medicine and bioengineering
Proteins have been quietly taking over our lives since the COVID-19 pandemic began. We’ve been living at the whim of the virus’s so-called “spike” protein, which has mutated dozens of times to create increasingly deadly variants. But the truth is, we have always been ruled by proteins. At the cellular level, they’re responsible for pretty […]
Eating disorder behaviors alter reward response in brain: Changes can affect food intake control circuitry and cause disorders to progress
Researchers have found that eating disorder behaviors, such as binge-eating, alter the brain’s reward response process and food intake control circuitry, which can reinforce these behaviors. Understanding how eating disorder behaviors and neurobiology interact can shed light on why these disorders often become chronic and could aid in the future development of treatments. The study, […]
Drug relieves persistent daydreaming, fatigue, and brain sluggishness in adults with ADHD
Tests of a drug known to stimulate brain activity have shown early success in reducing symptoms of sluggish cognitive tempo in 38 men and women with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD.) A collection of symptoms including persistent dreaminess, fatigue, and slow-working speed, sluggish cognitive tempo has been a subject of debate over whether it is […]