On May Eleventh, 2011 Spain was struck by a massive earthquake of magnitude 5.1 in the town of Lorca, which was incidentally the country’s worst earthquake in over 50 years killing 9 people and injuring nearly 300. Through the satellite images Canadian scientists found that a fault ruptured along the basin that had been weakened [...]
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Discover the shocking double lives of house cats
For generations hitherto, mankind and house cats have shared a symbiotic relationship; disassociating bonds between these two organisms can surprisingly turn out to be one of the hardest phases in life! House cats are synonymous with beauty, grace, patience, mysticism and other refined qualities that we long for in our quest for companionship. In addition, [...]
Is global warming a by-product of mankind’s ignorance or is it an evolutionary process of nature?
Even though it is invisible to our naked eyes, global warming is wreaking havoc on this planet’s atmosphere. Alarmingly, the rate of global warming is inflating on a constant basis. There have been heated argument and debate raging on regarding the cause of global warming with some claiming that this process is anthropogenic while others [...]
Heat-Shock Proteins Protect Mosquitoes From Warm Blood Meals
While people always thought that bites from pesky mosquitoes are just simple feeding habits, a new research published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal reveals that sudden intake of warm blood from victims actually are stressful events for the mosquitoes. The insect has to produce heat-shock proteins to counter the [...]
Sleeplessness Increases Calorie Consumption
Sleep deprivation is unhealthy in more ways than expected, as a new study reveals that sleeplessness make people consume calorie-laden foods without giving it much thought. The research work conducted by the New York Obesity Research Center of Columbia University involved 13 female and 13 male subjects aged 30 to 45 who were put on [...]
Study Says Lucy Walked Upright on Two Feet
The Australopithecus afarensis fossil bones popularly known as Lucy likely walked on two feet, scientists recently declared in light of a newly discovered foot bone which is believed to be part of the iconic skeletal remains. The arched bone that connects the toe to the base of the foot strongly indicates that the 3.2 million years [...]
Implicit and Explicit Memories Explained in Study
People tend to remember what is important but due to distractions and background noise that unknowingly influence behaviour, the same people also pick up a lot of irrelevant information that clutter memory. The differentiation of relevant and irrelevant information is the focus of a new study from the Rotman Research Institute of the University of [...]
Feline Pets Love Women, Food and Social Interactions
Cats bond with human owners – particularly women – not just for food but for the social interactions they give, a new study Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition that is due to be published in the Behavioural Processes journal reveals. The study on the dynamics of cat and human relationships shows that cats attach to [...]
Brief Mental Breaks Boost Productivity
Taking brief interruptions and doing something else while doing a prolonged repetitive task improves one’s performance, a new psychological study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign reveals. The study divided 84 participants into several groups and made them perform for 40 minutes the repetitive task of pressing a key when the computer screen displays [...]
Genome Study of Orangutans Reveals Slow Gene Evolution
A new study published in the journal Nature shows that the genome sequence of orangutans – the endangered great apes found in Bornean and Sumatran jungles – developed more slowly than human and chimpanzees, their closest kin in the animal kingdom. The scientists from Washington University in St. Louis that undertook the genome mapping says [...]
Massive Mineral Deposits Found in Afghanistan
Large untapped deposits of gold, copper, lithium and rare earth minerals valued at around $3 trillion were discovered in a recent joint study conducted by the Afghan Geological Survey and the US Task Force for Business and Stability Operation. The massive untapped copper deposit in Saripul and Logar provinces are estimated to be bigger than [...]
US Biology Teachers Not Inclined to Teach Evolution
Analysis of the results of the National Survey of High School Biology Teachers revealed that most biology teachers in US public schools are reluctant to teach evolution in their classes, and some are finding ways to creatively avoid the topic in class discussions. The report says only 28% of teachers are religiously following the National [...]
Large Social Circle Means Having a Big Brain?
People who get in contact with 50 or more people on a regular basis were found to have a bigger amygdala – the part of the brain involved in the processing of information and emotional reactions – compared to people who interact with 15 people at the most. Thus, a new study by scientists from [...]
Coral Reef Regeneration Hastened by Good Fisheries Management
Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of California at Santa Cruz – in a groundbreaking 18-year study published in the journal Ecology – have found that closing fishing grounds along Kenya’s overfished coast could result in faster coral reef regeneration. The researchers noted that in areas closed to fishing, predatory fishes keep [...]
Humans Becoming Dumber Due to Shrinking Brains?
A dumber generation of humans may be the eventual result of the shrinking size of human brains that was noted by University of Missouri researchers David Geary and Drew Bailey in their study into how cranial size changed over million of years. The novel study found that in the last 20,000 years, the brain size [...]
Study Reveals Even Neanderthals Loved Cooked Veggies
Scientists have found evidence that Neanderthal people also ate cooked vegetables, contrary to earlier beliefs that their diets consisted mainly of meat. This and other findings were revealed in a study that will be published in an upcoming issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Conducting dental calculus on Neanderthal bones that [...]