Two hundred years ago, archaeologists used the Rosetta Stone to understand the ancient Egyptian scrolls. Now, a team of scientists has discovered the beginnings of a neural Rosetta Stone. By combining brain imaging and machine learning techniques, neuroscientists and computer scientists determined how the brain arranges noun representations. Understanding how the brain codes nouns is [...]
Scientists have found that a “longevity gene” helps to slow age-related decline in brain function in older adults. Drugs that mimic the gene’s effect are now under development, the researchers note, and could help protect against Alzheimer’s disease.
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For the first time, two astronomers have explained the diversity of galaxy shapes seen in the universe. The scientists tracked the evolution of galaxies over thirteen billion years from the early Universe to the present day.
Continue reading about How galaxies came to be: Astronomers explain Hubble sequence
People with impaired mobility after a stroke soon may have a therapy that restores limb function long after the injury, if a supplemental protein works as well in humans as it does in paralyzed rats.
Sleeping is known to help humans stabilize information and tasks learned during the preceding day. Now, researchers have found that sleep has similar effects upon learning in starlings, a discovery that will open up future research into how the brain learns and preserves information. The research fills an important gap between human behavioral findings and [...]
Continue reading about As in humans, sleep solidifies a bird’s memories
On the marine microbial stage, there appears to be a vast, varied group of understudies only too ready to step in when “star” microbes falter. New research provides the first evidence that microorganisms can be rare for long periods before completely turning the tables to become dominant when ecosystems change.
New research has shown that reducing the dosage of dopamine agonist drugs, a mainstay treatment for Parkinson’s disease, sometimes causes acute withdrawal symptoms similar to those reported by cocaine addicts, including anxiety, panic attacks, depression, sweating, nausea, generalized pain, fatigue, dizziness and drug cravings. These symptoms can be severe, and are not alleviated by other [...]
Some modern horses of Iberian origin are descendants from wild horses from the Early Iberian Neolithic, dated around 6,200 years ago. Ancient lineages are mainly represented in the Lusitano group C, constituted by some modern Lusitano and American horses.
Continue reading about Wild Iberian horses contributed to origin of current Iberian domestic stock
A new predictor of cornea transplant success has been identified by the Cornea Donor Study (CDS) Investigator Group. New analysis of data from the 2008 Specular Microscopy Ancillary Study, a subset of the CDS, found that the preoperative donor cell count of endothelial cells, previously considered to be an important predictor of a successful transplant, [...]
Continue reading about Cornea cell density predictive of graft failure at six months post-transplant
A European consortium has brought the power of grid computing to bear on problems ranging from the genetic origins of heart disease to the management of fish stocks and the reconstruction of ancient musical instruments.