Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: scientific study

scientific study stories: 146 news summaries

41 - 60 of 146 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next >>

Switch to grid view »

(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Italy • brain • club • listeners • scientific study • ear • hemisphere • disco • favor

(Newser) - Sand exhibits so many unexplainable physical properties that some think granularity is a form of matter unto itself, Wired reports. Granular matter acts like a solid, a liquid, or a gas depending on the circumstance. “You walk on the beach, and the sand supports your weight,” said physicist... More »

MORE ABOUT:
gas • sand • scientific study • liquids • matter • state of matter • solid • granularity • Heinrich Jaeger

 Mammals Evolve Faster 
 in Hot Weather: Study 

Faster metabolism thought to be why

Jun 24, 09 2:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - Evolution happens faster in warmer climates, a new study finds. Researchers found that DNA changes more frequently among mammals in the species-rich tropics than among comparable species elsewhere, the BBC reports. Scientists believe the germ cells that become sperm and eggs divide more often in hotter weather, perhaps because those... More »

MORE ABOUT:
weather • evolution • DNA • mammals • scientific study

(Newser) - You can tell when Rover’s misbehaved by that guilty look on his face, right? Ruff—er, wrong, researchers say. If owners believed their dogs had misbehaved, they projected that famed "guilty" expression onto the animals’ faces regardless of whether any rule-breaking had happened, a new study says. Any... More »

MORE ABOUT:
research • guilty • scientific study • dog • Barnard College

(Newser) - Train riders might not actually have that much to lord over their jet-setting rivals as far as pollution goes, Scientific American reports. A new study shows that although planes emit three times more greenhouse gasses per passenger per mile than trains, the industrial emissions necessary to rail infrastructure makes the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • greenhouse gases • global warming • train • plane • transportation • scientific study • carbon emissions • rail travel • commercial aviation

(Newser) - The jump in human ingenuity during the Stone Age could have resulted not from a biological change but from closer, more populous communities, NPR reports. “Anything that we teach is going to be susceptible to loss, or to decay,” said the British scientist who cooked up the theory.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
evolution • human intelligence • University College London • scientific study • human population • Stone Age • population density

 Apes, Humans Share a Laugh 

Commonalities
show laughter
is pre-human

Jun 4, 09 2:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - After tickling two dozen apes and several children, scientists have concluded that laughter developed long before humans did. In fact, a common ancestor of both apes and humans probably emitted the first chuckle at least 10 million years ago. The study measuring 800 vocalizations found that all subjects shared the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
apes • human evolution • human • laughter • scientific study

(Newser) - Increases in sea level caused by climate change could be dramatically larger than the world average in the densely populated Northeast, LiveScience reports. A new study shows that the melting Greenland ice cap and ocean dynamics will push 12 to 20 more inches of water toward New England and Canada... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • New York City • Northeast • Boston • Greenland • sea level • glacier • scientific study • ocean currents • melting ice

Sorry, Exercise Doesn't Boost Metabolism

Research busts myth that workouts keep burning fat hours later

May 26, 09 5:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - You went for a half-hour run this afternoon, so it’s OK to have that extra slice of cake tonight, right? That’s actually wrong, say scientists, and they’re just as surprised about it as you. The now-debunked assumption was that exercise leaves the body with more power to... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health • diet • exercise • calories • metabolism • scientific study

(Newser) - Why some people get steamed while others stay cool depends on which version of a certain gene they carry, the Daily Telegraph reports. German scientists isolated a gene that affects dopamine levels. In a study, people with the least common variation showed little anger. Those with the other two mutations... More »

MORE ABOUT:
genes • anger • dopamine • genetic research • scientific study • temper • anger management

 Bird Culture Innate: Study 

Isolated finches develop the same song over time

May 4, 09 2:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - DNA may carry the blueprint for culture, a study of zebra finches has revealed. When raised in isolation, the birds' complex mating song—usually taught by male elders—develops into a harsh clamor. But as their offspring learn the song, they tweak it slightly and recreate the melody within a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
birds • DNA • human evolution • scientific study • Zebra finch

 Infected Concrete 
 Heals Self: Study 

Scientists create self-healing concrete

May 2, 09 2:17 AM CDT
(Newser) - Bacteria that secrete minerals are a well-known tool for "healing" cracked limestone statues, and the process got a Dutch scientist thinking. He theorized that concrete seeded with bacteria and a substance they transform into calcium carbonate would create a material that's able to seal cracks as they form. It... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Netherlands • bacteria • engineering • scientific study • concrete • calcium carbonate • limestone

(Newser) - Yes, it's an actual study: Parrots can dance. Really and truly dance. A painstaking review of lab video—and YouTube—revealed that the birds have rhythm, the Boston Globe reports. Frame-by-frame analysis of birds’ motion to music shows that they bob and weave in perfect sync to a beat,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
YouTube • birds • dancing • Brandeis • parrot • scientific study • rhythm • Harvard University

(Newser) - Researchers have discovered that gum-chewing students perform better at math, the Los Angeles Times reports. A study, sponsored by the Wrigley Science Institute, showed that young scholars who chomped on gum while attending math class, doing homework, and taking tests score 3% higher on tests after 14 weeks. Teachers found... More »

MORE ABOUT:
education • chewing gum • scientific study • mathematics • Wrigley • students • math

(Newser) - The world’s rivers are drying up as climate change worsens and the demand for water increases, the BBC reports. Researchers studying 925 major waterways—from the Ganges to the Colorado—found significantly less fresh water flowing into oceans in 2004 than 50 years earlier. If the trend continues, the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • global warming • glacier • river • drinking water • water shortage • water supply • scientific study • Colorado River • weather data • Ganges River

Great Barrier Reef Rebounds From Crisis

Scientists credit luck
for natural wonder's 'spectacular' healing

Apr 22, 09 1:52 PM CDT
(Newser) - Parts of the Great Barrier Reef bleached by warming waters 3 years ago have made a speedy recovery because of a few lucky breaks, the Guardian reports. Reefs typically take at least a decade to overcome human-created crises, but a combination of biological factors helped the reef's speedy healing, Australian... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Australia • El Nino • coral reef • scientific study • Great Barrier Reef • coral bleaching

 Weight a Minute! 
 Fatties Hurt Earth 

Heavier people weigh on planet by excess eating, driving

Apr 20, 09 1:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - People's carbon footprints grow as their weight increases, Reuters reports. By eating and tending to drive more than average, the world's billion overweight people each create an extra ton of carbon emissions annually,  a recent study has calculated. "When it comes to food consumption, moving about in a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity • environment • greenhouse gases • overweight • scientific study • carbon emissions

(Newser) - Babies conceived between April and July—the period when surface-water concentrations of pesticides are at their highest—run an increased risk of having a birth defect, Reuters reports. “Our study didn't prove a cause and effect link,” the lead researcher said, but “the fact that birth defects... More »

MORE ABOUT:
pregnancy • conception • summer • scientific study • pesticide • birth defect • Spring

Poor Kids' Stress Harms the Brain, Chance of Success

Elevated stress hormones early can lead to lack of working memory later

Apr 6, 09 12:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Chronic stress caused by growing up poor appears to impair a developing child’s working memory, the Washington Post reports, pointing to another link between childhood poverty and lessened long-term success. While environmental and experiential factors—such as having fewer toys and more exposure to lead—likely affect the achievement... More »

MORE ABOUT:
memory • children • stress • poverty • cognitive science • cognitive development • scientific study • working memory

(Newser) - In a result defying popular opinion, the human heart regenerates about half of its cells over the course of a normal lifespan, the New York Times reports. A study used levels of a radioactive isotope in the earth’s atmosphere released by aboveground nuclear tests, and found in our bodies,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
heart • scientific study • medical study • radioactive isotopes • muscle tissue • regeneration

41 - 60 of 146 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next >>


from our news partners