Here's how the fruit fly has solved a problem that continues to vex Amazon and Netflix, a problem that involves our memories and preferences. As it turns out these little, curious creatures can teach us a thing or two.
Other Science News
The American Heart Association's new high blood pressure guidelines are about treating patients at risk for cardiovascular disease. It is not about the 50% of patients now declared hypertensive, even though that is what the mainstream media reports.
It's not an obvious answer. You might think malaria or malnutrition. But, no, it's pneumonia – which kills roughly one million kids under age 5 around the world. That's more than HIV/AIDS, diarrhea and malaria – combined.
The combination of a dying boy, a scientific problem that seemed solvable, the right tools and good hands of motivated scientists have created the most amazing science story of the year. Here's how scientists successfully created new skin during this life-saving procedure.
As our care improves, more patients have end-of-life concerns and issues. But sadly physicians are not necessarily meeting those needs.
The mustaches are the symbolic equivalent of the pink ribbons associated with breast cancer awareness. Let's help the men in our lives take control of their health – and fight against preventable diseases.
Senator Rand Paul's medical difficulties evolve after being assaulted while mowing his lawn.
Upon seeing what he deemed a poorly-constructed paper by a colleague in physics, Wolfgang Pauli is apocryphally said to have, "This isn't right. This isn't even wrong."
By that he meant the author didn't even have enough command of the basics to be incorrect, it was just gibberish. This now applies to the work of MIT computer scientist Stephanie Seneff and whatever Anthony Samsel claims to have expertise in. When a collaborator of a true anti-science crank, Gilles-Éric Séralini, famous for weird claims like that GMOs are a "pesticide sponge" and who manufactured a (now retracted) paper claiming that rats somehow get cancer if they eat GMO feed, debunks you, you are "not even wrong" by people who are "not even wrong."
Dr. Hawking's recent turn toward morbid pessimism is unfortunate. He is saying things that, if they weren't coming from him, most scientists would laugh at. It's sad that such a great physicist and science communicator is tainting his legacy with nonsense.
Statistics are an essential piece of scientific experimentation. Here, we discuss an almost 100 year old landmark experiment that separated a guessing game from a proven ability. In doing so, it established the statistical standard that scientists still use today.
The world of interventional cardiology was rocked recently when optimal medical management was found to be as effective as opening the artery with a stent. Yet a significant factor in the study – that went overlooked by the media – was that the patients serving as controls underwent sham surgery. It included all of the cutting and none of the cure.
Before media outlets start scaring you about another infectious disease, learn some important facts.