Counting Chicks Redefine Birdbrain

Drug would act on brain, blocking receptor that slows learning

(NEWSER) - Studying, schmudying: A pill that boosts teenagers’ ability to learn may be in the pipeline soon. A receptor in the hippocampus area of the brain appears to slow down learning when kids hit puberty, researchers at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn report. Give kids a steroid to suppress that receptor, and they should—theoretically—get an instant long-term memory boost. More»

Breakthrough could lead to more precise lasers, traffic speed guns

(NEWSER) - A team of physicists say they’ve managed to “tie light in knots” using holograms and abstract mathematics. The breakthrough could have a host of practical applications, including more precise lasers and traffic speed guns. It’s also the first physical application of “knot theory,” a branch of mathematics inspired by the winding of shoelaces, which was previously believed to be totally abstract. More»

Constant switching of focus is inefficient, can lead to trouble

(NEWSER) - Multitasking isn’t helping you do anything faster, and constant exposure to multiple electronic media makes people really bad at—multitasking. “When you’re pushing yourself to perform two or more tasks, especially complicated tasks, it’s not beneficial,” a researcher tells the Boston Globe . “It’s extremely inefficient.” That's because no matter how small the task, the brain must reorient its focus. More»

(NEWSER) - Regular doses of Omega 3, found in fish oil, can help reduce memory loss, reports the Telegraph. Healthy 70-year-old subjects taking capsules containing 900 mg of the fatty acid docosahexaenoic slashed errors on a test that measured learning and memory, according to researchers. The improvement, exhibited over a six-month period, is the equivalent of turning back the clock of the brain by three years, say scientists. More»

(NEWSER) - People prefer to listen with their right ears and are more giving when addressed from that side, LiveScience reports. An Italian study conducted in nightclubs shows that almost three-quarters of people observed listen with their right ear. Moreover, the researchers cadged significantly more cigarettes when they approached clubgoers on the right, rather than left, when trying to bum a smoke. More»