Scientists have known for a while that early experiences can effect brain development, but up until now this was only seen in children who underwent trauma. But a recent study at the University of Pennsylvania suggests that subtle things like books and educational toys will actually influence the way a child’s brain develops. The study [...]

Artist’s rendering of a traditional B-cell (Genentech) Autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus happen when the immune system starts attacking its own body. Up until fairly recently, not much was known about why this happens. Not too long ago, researchers discovered a class of cells, called B10 [...]

A study at Ohio State University suggests that highly educated Americans were the most likely to accumulate debt that they couldn’t handle in the years leading up to the financial crisis of 2008. The study defined households that spent over 40% of their income on debt, rent, and leases as facing a heavy debt burden. The overall [...]

You are almost certainly familiar with the popular equation: E=mc^2, but do you know what it means? If you’ve read a pop science book every now and then, or paid attention in physics and chemistry classes, you may already know that it means mass and energy are equivalent. But this doesn’t necessarily mean what you think it does [...]

This week we learn that people will completely reverse their opinion, and justify it, if they are fooled into thinking they answered a survey question differently than they actually did. Meanwhile, a fiber optic cable sends the equivalent of 5,000 HDTV movies per second, a common drug halts muscle aging in mice, and listening to music [...]

As we dig deeper into the structure of DNA, we learn more about the code that serve’s as life’s encyclopedia. In The Violinist’s Thumb, Sam Kean explores what DNA is, how it influenced historical figures, and what it can tell us about what it means to be human. I recently had the opportunity to ask him a few questions on the subject [...]

In today’s Friday Roundup we spot evidence of superconductivity at room temperature, and researchers beat a record for transforming heat directly into electricity. Meanwhile, the genetic evolution of a new trait in bacteria is documented in detail. Possible Room Temperature Superconductivity A magnet floating above a superconductor [...]

This week we look back on yet another record set for quantum entanglement. Meanwhile, astronomers spot a spiral galaxy in images of the early universe, the very first of its kind. And could a Japanese mathematician have proven a relationship between prime numbers? Entanglement Record Broken…Again It’s starting to feel like they’re [...]

Researchers have managed to return feeling to patients with paralysis for the first time ever, and a new theory makes predictions that could resolve the dark matter and dark energy problems faced by current physics. Meanwhile, we discover that a species of bird appears to hold “funerals” for their dead. Stem Cells Reverse Paralysis [...]

Black holes are a place where the universe goes to die. General relativity predicts that they carry you to the end of time and then deposit you inside the event horizon, where it becomes impossible to escape. And yet Dr. Caleb Scharf, the Director of Astrobiology at Columbia University, wanted to tell me about a different side of black [...]