Science & Technology

Recent research shows patients using virtual reality technology during elective hand surgery required less anesthesia for anxiety during surgery.

The fetuses of women working in the fields in extreme heat can show signs of strain before their mothers are affected, new research has shown.

A new study analyzing stone tools from southern China provides the earliest evidence of rice harvesting, dating to as early as 10,000 years ago. The researchers identified two methods of harvesting rice, which helped initiate rice domestication.

Their older parents need care. Their kids are still under 18. And they probably have a job, too. They’re the ‘sandwich generation’ — a longtime nickname for the mostly female, mostly middle-aged group of Americans who serve as caregivers for both olde…

Researchers have devised a way to achieve long-term changes in neuron activity. With their new strategy, they can use light exposure to change the electrical capacitance of the neurons’ membranes, which alters their excitability (how strongly or weakly…

Engineers have created a soft robot capable of detecting when and where it was damaged — and then healing itself on the spot.

People who take cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins may have a lower risk of having a type of stroke called an intracerebral hemorrhage, according to a new study. An intracerebral hemorrhage is caused by bleeding in the brain.

Researchers showed participants videos of human, dog, and macaque pairs to determine how well humans assess social interactions.

Researchers performed an experiment, in which a set of students’ physiological data was gathered over the course of three exams. They used a smartwatch-like wearable device and collected multimodal physiological data. The use of the smartwatch-like wea…

In search of new biomarkers for nutrition and health studies, a research team has identified and structurally characterized three metabolites that could be considered as specific markers for individual coffee consumption. These are degradation products…

How do nematodes distantly related to the best-studied one, Caenorhabditis elegans, make their gut, given that the genes responsible for specifying the gut in C. elegans are absent in other nematodes?

A new paper shows that when first-year female STEM students are mentored by student peers, the positive ripple effect lasts throughout their undergraduate years and into their postgraduate lives, enhancing the mentee’s subjective experience as well as …

When winter chill strikes, people stay indoors more often, giving airborne pathogens — such as SARS-CoV-2 and influenza — prime opportunities to spread. Germicidal ultraviolet (GUV) lamps can help disinfect circulating air, but their UVC wavelengths …

New function of a known defense mechanism discovered: RNA interference not only fights viruses, it also regulates the protein balance of intestinal cells.

How is the weather changing as a consequence of global warming? Climate archives provide valuable glimpses into past climate changes, especially into the processes that drive our planet from one climate setting to the next. For humans and ecosystems, h…

Audio cues can not only help us to recognize objects more quickly but can even alter our visual perception. That is, pair birdsong with a bird and we see a bird — but replace that birdsong with a squirrel’s chatter, and we’re not quite so sure what we…

A newly discovered technique offers a low-cost way to enhance the effectiveness of existing drugs.

A new study suggests that a small fraction of marine microorganisms are responsible for most of the consumption of oxygen and release of carbon dioxide in the ocean. This surprising discovery came from a new method that provides unprecedented insight i…

Two-million-year-old DNA has been identified — opening a ‘game-changing’ new chapter in the history of evolution. Microscopic fragments of environmental DNA were found in Ice Age sediment in northern Greenland. Using cutting-edge technology, researche…

Researchers have zeroed in on specific mechanisms that activate oncogenes, which are altered genes that can cause normal cells to become cancer cells. This work advances the ability to predict and interpret which genetic mutations found in cancer genom…