From AT&T to ADHD
Too much cell phone time for mouse moms makes for brain-addled babies.
Just Breathe: Confirming Meditation's Benefits
Plenty of followers swear by meditation to cure a long list of ails. But how does it work? Neuroscientist Clifford Saron, of the University of California, Davis, and a Who’s Who of peers, are spending millions to find out.
Psychopaths’ Brains Deviate—and That’s Good
Identifying physical differences in the brains of psychopathic violent offenders suggests there may be hope in rehabilitating other violent criminals.
Researchers Crack Codes for Lithium, Electroshock
How two long-time therapies for brain disorders work are finally being understood by the medical community, creating a path to safer alternatives.
Texas, Tom and Jerry, and a Thirsty Planet
How scientists at Austin’s Center for Space Research are measuring the loss of water around the world with a pair of aging satellites.
Calm Down and Step Away From the Burger
A new study links trans fats – already under fire for a variety of dietary ills – with grouchiness.
Cancer Wars: An Outcast Researcher’s New Theory
The scientific community disowned Professor Peter Duesberg for denying that HIV causes AIDS. But is there something to his new theory on cancer?
Feds Put Chimp Experiments in Cage
A blue-ribbon panel sees the sun possibly setting on medical experiments using chimps, leading federal authorities to halt new awards but leave existing experiments in place.
Computer Determines If Torah Is Mosaic … or a mosaic
A computer analysis of the text of the first five books of the Bible determines at least two hands working on the scrolls.
The Physics of Terror
After studying four decades of terrorism, Aaron Clauset thinks he's found mathematical patterns that can help governments prevent and prepare for major terror attacks. The U.S. government seems to agree.
Chicago Charter Schools Aim to Lift Urban Education
The University of Chicago's Urban Education Institute runs charter schools and uses innovative practices to provide inner-city children a pathway to college.
Study: Buddhist Meditation Promotes Rational Thinking
Studies looking at the brains of people playing a fairness game found very different responses between Buddhist meditators and other participants.
Rooftop Solar Power to the People?
Some environmental advocates say the federal government is ignoring the real future of solar energy: photovoltaic cells on almost every roof. But even supporters acknowledge rooftop solar isn't the complete answer to the energy question — yet.
Are New Solar Power Projects Anti-Environmental?
Big money, big energy and big environmentalism join forces to support big solar energy projects on federal land in the Southwest. But could these "green" projects actually be anti-environmental boondoggles in the making?
Judges' Decisions More Lenient After Lunch
Ordering in the court may be the new cry as a look at judges' decisions made before and after lunch shows a wide difference in outcome.
Inkjet Printers Used in Bioprinting to Creates Human Tissue
Bioprinting allows researchers to create replacement human tissue and output it on equipment similar to what came free in your desktop bundle.
Song Lyrics, Twitter Help Chart Public Mood
Trying to divine the mood of a group of people is hard and requires trust in their answers. A new method has researchers whistling a happier tune.
Biosensors a Promising Avenue for Quick Diagnosis
Handheld sensors using specialized — and relatively cheap — biosensors may deliver an instant diagnosis of diseases, contaminated water and biological attacks.
Global Warming: the Archaeological Frontier
Melting glaciers yield evidence on new theories of Asian migration to the Americas. Underwater robots search the sea bottom, looking for more.
CSI: Pompeii — Findings May Impact Today's Naples Residents
The ancient Romans of Pompeii were already parboiled when the lava arrived, according to a new investigation with scary implications for modern-day Naples.
Monogamy, Polygyny and the Well-Tended Garden
The advent of agriculture created a new kind of seed-scattering strategy.
Air Conditioning Using 90 Percent Less Power
A U.S. government project combining two well-known technologies — swamp coolers and water-absorbing compounds — generates an amazingly efficient air conditioner.
The Best Fiscal Stimulus: Trust
How the potent hormone of empathy, oxytocin, is shaking up the field of economics.
Solar's New Dawn, With Applicator Brush
Advances in technology make low-efficiency but wide areas solar energy newly practical.
Standing in Line to Cap the Spill
Even for a proven energy innovator like James Dehlsen, the path to offer solutions to the Gulf oil spill is uphill and rocky.
Oxytocin Hormone Linked to Kindness
Oxytocin, already dubbed the 'cuddle hormone,' may deserve a new moniker as the 'kindness molecule.'
Republicans Look Powerful, Democrats Look Cuddly
An American academic finds people can somewhat accurately predict your political affiliation by your looks alone.
A Mind of Crime
How brain-scanning technology is redefining criminal culpability.
Engineers Discuss Solutions to Grand Challenges
To engineers, every problem is just a solution that hasn't occurred yet, our Michael Haederle learns at the El Paso innovation conference.
Speakers Address Smarter U.S. Infrastructure
In El Paso, our Michael Haederle reviews innovative ideas suggested for arresting the wear and tear on roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
Grand Challenges on Climate, Biomedicine
Reporting from the El Paso innovation conference, our Michael Haederle explains how a toy frog may have hopped over some biomedical manufacturing obstacles.
Looking For Answers for Grand Challenges
Our Michael Haederle reports live from El Paso, where academics gathered at a conference looking for practical innovations to address the big problems.
'Roach Motels' for Bacteria
'Microspheres' prove devastatingly effective in trapping and killing tiny threats like bacteria and spores.
The Chemical Contrails of the Placebo
Studies are finding that the pain relief induced by placebos may come from releasing the body's own chemical pain relievers.
Are America's Winds Taking a Breather?
Wind speeds, expected to help propel the advance of renewable energy, may be slowing, a cautious new study suggests. Then again, they may be blowing even harder.
Shining a Light on Better Headlamps
Drivers aren't singing the blues so much about high-intensity headlights these days, but a smarter version of them might really light up their driving lives.
The Ancestor Hunter
The University of Arizona's Michael Hammer is using advanced DNA techniques to figure out where we came from. Which, apparently, is not just one place, or even one species.
Brain's Indiana Joneses Search for Empathy
Empathy is more than an item on a prospective Supreme Court nominee's résumé; it's a core human trait. But where inside the brain might it arise?
Order From Chaos: Making Sense of Schizophrenia Research
The tyranny of choice also appears to affect research into schizophrenia: The sheer volume of data can make teasing out what's important from what's trivial an obstacle to better understanding the disease.
Keeping More Species Around May Dilute Disease Threat
A study on hantavirus and Panama rats suggests another and less obvious benefit to biodiversity — it may diminish the threat humans face from zoonotic diseases.
Been Caught Stealing: A Drug That Fights Kleptomania
A drug used to treat alcoholics and heroin addicts shows promise in treating those addicted to theft.
Moderate Drinking Sails in Stormy Waters
Amid gallons of competing studies about the benefits and banes of alcohol, the consistent message that moderation is a good course gets refined.
Leon Botstein: In It for the Duration
A Miller-McCune interview of intellectual provocateur Leon Botstein.
Parallel Paths?
Review: A useful but incomplete book looks at the compatibility (if any) of Buddhism and science.
Making a Market for Kidneys
Using game theory and market-design software, doctors are arranging kidney-transplant 'swaps' — sometimes in long chains — to give more people with renal disease better transplant options and healthier futures.
Mother's Travails May Appear in Offspring's DNA
Puzzled over health complications more persistent among African Americans than in other Americans, researchers invoke epigenetics.