Neat News 2017-151 (added 2017-05-31)
Attacking Alzheimer on Different Fronts
![]() Public Domain by Garrondo
| There has been a big improvement in the treatment of HIV/AIDS by the combination of different drugs. New research is done to establish whether attacking Alzheimer's disease in a similar way may be more promising than trying single types of medication. |
News seen at: Scientific American - Health
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Neat News 2017-150 (added 2017-05-30)
Visual Cortex Develops for up to 40 Years
![]() Public Domain by Chavez01
| The general scientific view was that the visual cortex - the part of the brain that processes the images sent from the eyes - is fully developed after the first five or six years of life. Scientists have now studied brain tissue of deceased people and found that the visual cortex reaches its maturity around an age of 36 years. |
News seen at: ScienceDaily - Psychology
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Neat News 2017-149 (added 2017-05-29)
Generate Electricity from Rivers Flowing into the Sea
![]() Public Domain by NASA
| The difference in the salt concentration between river water and sea water at a river mouth can be used to generate electricity. If used it has the potential to generate big quantities of electricity. |
News seen at: ScienceDaily - Top Physical/Tech
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Neat News 2017-148 (added 2017-05-28)
Cocoa Good for Heart
![]() Public Domain by Medicaster
| There is evidence that regular moderate intake of cocoa (one to two servings of chocolate per week) reduces the risk of atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm. |
News seen at: Scientific American - Health
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Neat News 2017-147 (added 2017-05-27)
Mind Control of Paralyzed Hands
![]() Public Domain by Hans Berger
| Patients who have lost the functioning of a part of their brain and suffer as a consequence of a paralysis of a hand can be helped by a new device. It can read a part of the mind that prepares the movement but whose signals would lead nowhere. This is connected to an exoskeleton, a device which takes direct control of the hand. After training a number of patients regained a limited use of their hand. |
News seen at: ScienceDaily - Health
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Neat News 2017-146 (added 2017-05-26)
Detection of Disease
![]() Public Domain by Johannes Sobotta
| Humans have an instinctive way to detect oncoming disease in others before it breaks out. This allows them to avoid such people and avoid being contaminated. Vision and smell seem to be particularly important for this ability. |
News seen at: ScienceDaily - Science News Health
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Neat News 2017-145 (added 2017-05-25)
Puzzle of Chaco Culture
![]() Public Domain by National Park Service (USA)
| Archaeologists try to solve some puzzles about the Chaco culture by using modern DNA techniques. This way they want to match the finds which are distributed over different museums in the USA. The culture is assumed to have had its heyday more than 1000 years ago. |
News seen at: Science News - Archaeology
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Neat News 2017-144 (added 2017-05-24)
Flamingos Save Energy by Balancing on one Leg
![]() © Valdiney Pimenta [CC BY 2.0]
| Flamingos have such a stable stance when standing on one leg that they need less energy this way than standing on two legs. Scientists measured this by evaluating how much they sway (in a radius of only 3.2 millimetres) and how much effort they need to remain in an equilibrium. |
News seen at: BBC - Science
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Neat News 2017-143 (added 2017-05-23)
Hologram Miniturization
![]() Public Domain by Epzcaw
| Ultra thin so-called nano-holograms have been built, much thinner than a human hair. This opens the possibility to integrate them in devices such as smart phones. |
News seen at: ScienceDaily - Bizarre Things News
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Neat News 2017-142 (added 2017-05-22)
Antibody against Cancer
![]() Public Domain by Linda Bartlett
| An antibody that was developed in the study of multiple sclerosis can stimulate T cells of the immune system so that it attacks some sorts of cancer cells. In models this results in a reduction in tumour growth. This makes the antibody a candidate for a new medication against cancer. |
News seen at: ScienceDaily - Health
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Neat News 2017-141 (added 2017-05-21)
Snow Leopards Collared in Nepal
![]() © Aaron Logan [CC BY 2.0]
| In the last four years four snow leopards have been collared in Nepal as part of a conservation project. Data collected from the collars is used to track the movements and to detemine important habitats. The project is supported by the WWF |
News seen at: WWF - Stories
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Neat News 2017-140 (added 2017-05-20)
Omega-3 Important for Ageing Brain
![]() Public Domain by Johannes Sobotta
| There is further evidence that Omega-3 fatty acids are useful for maintaining the health of an ageing brain; in particular, they may help slowing cognitive decline. |
News seen at: ScienceDaily - Health
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Neat News 2017-139 (added 2017-05-19)
Antibodies against Ebola
![]() Public Domain by Cynthia Goldsmith
| By the analysis of the blood of an Ebola survivor human antibodies against the Ebola virus have been found. This may in the long run result in a medication against the different forms of the disease as well as in a vaccine. |
News seen at: ScienceDaily - Health
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Neat News 2017-138 (added 2017-05-18)
Artificial Blood
![]() | A new method to transform a particular form of blood cells into blood-forming stem cells has been developed and tested in mice. If the findings can be applied to humans, the technique may be used to treat certain genetic and acquired blood diseases such as leukemia. |
News seen at: ScienceDaily
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Neat News 2017-137 (added 2017-05-17)
Attractive Sleep
![]() | People who had a good night's rest are more attractive than those who did not. Tiredness or sleepiness reduces the attractiveness of people even if shown on photos. |
News seen at: BBC - Health
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Neat News 2017-136 (added 2017-05-16)
Water Splitting with Catalyst
![]() Public Domain by Johann Wilhelm Ritter
| There is a new more efficient catalyst which makes the splitting of water in hydrogen and oxygen easier. Splitting water in order to produce hydrogen is important since hydrogen is a clean source of energy. The new catalyst is made of ferrous metaphosphate. |
News seen at: ScienceDaily - Top News
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Neat News 2017-135 (added 2017-05-15)
Why are People Altruistic?
![]() Public Domain by Johannes Sobotta
| Scanning the brain gives new insights which parts are active when particular decisions are taken. It has now been studied which parts are active when moral choices are done such as deciding whether to inflict pain to a person for personal gain. It has been found, for instance, that the communication of the prefrontal cortex with the striatum is increased when people refuse to profit from harming others. |
News seen at: Scientific American - Blogs
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Neat News 2017-134 (added 2017-05-14)
Change of the Gut Mircrobes against Post-Traumatic Stress
![]() © Blausen.com staff. Blausen gallery [CC BY 3.0]
| The gut contains microbes which have influence on the wellbeing of people. In experiments with mice it was posible to show that an immunization of the gut with a bacterium can reduce the exhibited anxiety in the mice. |
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Neat News 2017-133 (added 2017-05-13)
Importance of Worms
![]() © Aruna [CC BY-SA 3.0]
| Earthworms are important for the health of soil. In heavily ploughed fields, however, half of the earthworms disappear. But in a decade after going back to a sustainable usage of the soil the number of earthworms recovers to their previous levels. |
News seen at: Scientific American - Sustainability
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Neat News 2017-132 (added 2017-05-12)
Zika on the Way out
![]() Public Domain by CDC, Cynthia Goldsmith
| The Zika virus is particularly dangerous for unborn babies. Brazil has now reported that the number of cases have dropped by 95% in the first four months of this year compared to a year ago. As a consequence Brazil has declared that the national Zika emergency is over. |
News seen at: BBC - Health
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Neat News 2017-131 (added 2017-05-11)
New Drugs against HIV have fewer Side Effects
![]() | New drugs treat HIV/AIDS patients better and as a consequence the life expectancy of these patients is now near the standard life expectancy if they get appropriate medication. For this it is, however, important that the treatment starts early. |
News seen at: BBC - Health
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Neat News 2017-130 (added 2017-05-10)
Wine to Protect Neurons
![]() Public Domain by unknown
| Scientist have a better understanding why the moderate intake of red wine protects neurons from diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. It is now understood that wine contains so-called metabolites which in going through the gut are transformed and then protect the brain cells in different parts of the cell, ameliorating stress a cell may be under. |
News seen at: Science Daily - Health
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Neat News 2017-129 (added 2017-05-09)
Small Doses of Cannabis to Reverse Ageing in the Brain
![]() Public Domain by Johannes Sobotta
| In experiments with mice researchers have found out that the decrease in memory performance of old mice can be reversed by giving them a prolonged low-dose of cannabis. Clinical trials on humans are needed now in order to see whether this can result in a treatment for dementia. |
News seen at: Science Daily - Science News
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Neat News 2017-128 (added 2017-05-08)
Music Played Role in Tool Production in Stone Age
![]() | According to new research the production of tools in the stone age was more linked to musical than linguistic capabilities. Using brain scans in modern humans it has been found that their ability to the production of stone age tools is linked to the ability to play the piano but not so much to regions of the brain responsible for linguistics. The findings are a step in the understanding of the evolution of human intelligence. |
News seen at: ScienceDaily - Science News
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Neat News 2017-127 (added 2017-05-07)
Greenpeace Report on Beauty of West African Atlantic Ocean
![]() Public Domain by NASA
| Pictures taken from a Greenpeace ship show the beauty of the West Aftican Atlantic Ocean with fish, dolphins, mangroves, and beaches. Greenpeace campaigns for its protection and sustainable fishery. |
News seen at: Greenpeace - Blogs
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Neat News 2017-126 (added 2017-05-06)
Hot Wave in Space
![]() Public Domain by NASA/CXC/IoA/A.Fabian et al.
| A hot wave which is with 200,000 light years bigger than our galaxy is currently moving through neighbouring galaxies. It is assumed that it is the consequence of the interaction of the Perseus cluster with a smaller galaxy cluster which passed by. |
News seen at: Der Spiegel - Science (in German)
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Neat News 2017-125 (added 2017-05-05)
Vagus Nerve can Stimulate Immune System
![]() Public Domain by Henry Vandyke Carter
| There are connections between the immune system and the nervous system. Building up on tests with rats, there was now a test in humans which suggests that stimulating the vagus nerve may be useful in treating some autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease. Corresponding stimulation devices may replace some drugs in the long run. |
News seen at: Scientific American - Health
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Neat News 2017-124 (added 2017-05-04)
Reduce Emission by Sharing
![]() © Marco Verch [CC BY 2.0]
| By the combined effect of sharing cars, electrification, and automation it is possible to reduce carbon emissions from cars by 80% by 2050. Action is the more important since transportation plays an increasingly important role as the top source of greenhouse gas emissions (at around 30% in the USA). |
News seen at: Scientific American - Sustainability
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Neat News 2017-123 (added 2017-05-03)
Rosemary for Memory
![]() Public Domain by Franz Eugen Köhler
| Students who work in a room with the aroma of rosemary in the air have shown a 5% to 7% improvement in memory tests. There is a suggestion that the smell stimulates certain neurotransmitters in the brain which are associated with memory. |
News seen at: BBC - Education
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Neat News 2017-122 (added 2017-05-02)
Genetics of Tea
![]() Public Domain by Franz Eugen Köhler
| The genetic code of tea has been studied in order to find out what makes the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, so special. Its leaves are used inter alia for black and green tea. The genome is extraordinarily large and has slowly and steadily evolved. The research may result in the development of more diverse flavours. |
News seen at: BBC - Science
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Neat News 2017-121 (added 2017-05-01)
Eating Late and Heart Disease
![]() © Patrick J. Lynch [CC BY 2.5]
| There is a suggestion by the American Heart Association that eating late night might be bad for the heart. While the evidence is not very strong and a lot depends on the diet itself, there is some research that points in the direction that the timing of the final meal of the day is linked to heart disease and stroke. |