Researchers have discovered that when training insects, the process of building associations is not a simple matter of strengthening connections through reinforcement. Understanding how associations are built between stimuli and behavior gives insight into the nature of learning and could inform the design of artificial “noses,” sensor arrays that can detect chemicals in the air.
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Researchers have identified stem cells with the capacity to build fat. Although they have yet to show that the cells can renew themselves, transplants of the progenitor cells isolated from the fat tissue of normal mice can restore normal fat tissue in animals that are otherwise lacking it. The findings may yield insight into the [...]
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New research suggests that the edge of the Tibetan plateau might have been preserved for thousands of years by ice and glacial debris at the mouth of many tributaries to the Tsangpo River. Those deposits appear to have acted as dams that prevented the rapidly traveling Tsangpo from carving upstream into the plateau.
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A new study finds that pollution from livestock facilities is associated with an increase in infant mortality.
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A simulated gastrointestinal system is helping scientists test contaminated soil for its potential to harm humans. The method is likely to save time and money for people hoping to repurpose land with an industrial past. Most testing for potential arsenic exposure is conducted in recognition of a dirty little secret of modern life: Humans unknowingly [...]
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A new study shows that 5-month-old babies can distinguish an upbeat tune, such as “Ode to Joy” from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, from a lineup of gloomier compositions. By age 9 months, babies can do the opposite and pick out the sorrowful sound of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony from a pack of happy pieces.
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Scientists have found that mussels in their natural habitat express their genes in cyclic waves, in what appears to be a survival strategy akin to the circadian rhythms that govern sleep. In addition, two sets of genes used to cope with heat stress are identified, in the first real-time molecular sampling of two mussel communities.
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An important clue to why children with autism spectrum disorders have trouble imitating others has been discovered: they spend less time looking at the faces of people who are modeling new skills.
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A novel delivery system that could lead to more efficient and more disease-specific vaccines against infectious diseases has been developed by biomedical engineers.
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The drug tamoxifen does not prevent or treat estrogen receptor negative breast cancer, but it can make the disease easier to find, researchers report in the Oct. 1 Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
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