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279,034 articles from PhysOrg

fMRIs reveal brain's handling of low-priority ideas

When we put an idea on the back burner, it goes into a processing area of the brain called the default-mode network. This network enables us to hold the low-priority idea in abeyance until a time when we aren't busy with something else.

Giant fossil Prototaxites: Unraveling a 400-million-year-old mystery

Contradictions and puzzles surround the giant fossil Prototaxites. The fossils resemble tree trunks, and yet they are from a time before trees existed. The stable carbon isotope values are similar to those of fungi, but the fossils do not display structures usually found in fungi. Plant-like polymers have been found in the fossils, but nutritional evidence supports heterotrophy, which is not...

Many veterans not getting enough treatment for PTSD

Although the Department of Veteran Affairs is rolling out treatments nationwide as fast as possible to adequately provide for newly diagnosed PTSD patients, there are still significant barriers to veterans getting a full course of PTSD treatment. The study is published in the latest issue of the Journal of Traumatic Stress.

Mother bats expert at saving energy

In order to regulate their body temperature as efficiently as possible, wild female bats switch between two strategies depending on both the ambient temperature and their reproductive status. During pregnancy and lactation, they profit energetically from clustering when temperatures drop. Once they have finished lactating, they use torpor - temporary hibernation - to a greater extent, to slow...

Orion in a New Ligh (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Orion Nebula reveals many of its hidden secrets in a dramatic image taken by ESO`s new VISTA survey telescope. The telescope`s huge field of view can show the full splendour of the whole nebula and VISTA`s infrared vision also allows it to peer deeply into dusty regions that are normally hidden and expose the curious behaviour of the very active young stars buried there.

Prepregnancy, obesity and gestational weight gain influence risk of preterm birth

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine's (BUSM) Slone Epidemiology Center and Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) have found that pre-pregnancy obesity and gestational weight gain are associated with an increased risk of preterm birth in African American participants from the Black Women's Health Study. This study currently appears on-line in Epidemiology.

Soothing infants with food focus of childhood obesity study

Both genetics and parents who comfort their infants with food are the focus of a study funded for $1 million by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestion and Kidney Disease investigating risk factors for childhood obesity. The grant is part of the National Institutes of Health American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding.

Star chef points the way

Master chef Johann Lafer is a virtuoso in the kitchen -- and with modern technology too. At his cookery school the TV celebrity adopts a high-tech approach to make things easier in the kitchen with the touchless iPoint-Presenter.

A face is more than the sum of its parts

You stop at a shop window and wonder why someone inside is blatantly staring at you -- until you realize this person is you. Scenarios like this are impossible for us to imagine, but quite common for sufferers of acquired prosopagnosia (AP), a condition which can occur after brain damage, hindering the ability to recognize faces. In a new study published in the March 2010 issue of Elsevier's...

Are bees also addicted to caffeine and nicotine?

A study carried out at the University of Haifa has found that bees prefer nectar with a small concentration of caffeine and nicotine over nectar that does not comprise these substances at all. "This could be an evolutionary trait intended to make the bee addicted," the researchers say.

Opera Software announces iPhone browser

(AP) -- Opera Software ASA announced Wednesday that it will unveil an iPhone version of its Opera Mini mobile phone browser at an international tech conference next week despite not having approached iPhone maker Apple about the move.

Scientists crash test DNA's replication machinery

(PhysOrg.com) -- Important molecular machines routinely crash into one another while plying their trades on DNA. New research shows that the enzymes that copy DNA before cell division, called replisomes, are the kings of this road, kicking aside machines that are performing less critical tasks, such as transcribing instructions for proteins.

A common cholesterol drug fights cataracts, too

Statins, a class of drugs used to lower cholesterol levels, have been successfully fighting heart disease for years. A new study from Tel Aviv University has now found that the same drugs cut the risks of cataracts in men by almost 40%.

Bizarre giant oarfish filmed (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- A rare giant oarfish, probably the largest bony fish in the ocean, has been filmed off the Gulf of Mexico. This is possibly the first time the fish has been observed in its natural environment.

Changes proposed in how psychiatrists diagnose

(AP) -- Don't say "mental retardation" - the new term is "intellectual disability." No more diagnoses of Asperger's syndrome - call it a mild version of autism instead. And while "behavioral addictions" will be new to doctors' dictionaries, "Internet addiction" didn't make the cut.

High prevalence of AF found among cross-country skiers

Next month, in the Norwegian town of Rena, 12,000 elite cross-country skiers will line up for this year's Birkebeiner ski marathon, an annual endurance race which will take them through 54 kilometres of snow-covered countryside to the winter sports resort of Lillehammer.