Michelangelo, the 16th century master painter and accomplished anatomist, appears to have hidden an image of the brainstem and spinal cord in a depiction of God in the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, a new study reports. These findings by a neurosurgeon and a medical illustrator may explain long controversial and unusual features of one of the [...]

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A new study shows that a sleep disorder may be a sign of dementia or Parkinson’s disease up to 50 years before the disorders are diagnosed.

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Astronomers have found two extrasolar planetary systems with gas giant planets locked in an orbital embrace. In one system — a planetary pair orbiting the massive, dying star HD 200964, located roughly 223 light-years from Earth — the intimate dance is closer and tighter than any previously seen.

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Vaccine manufacturers in India and other developing countries may be able to produce a lower-cost HPV vaccine in spite of the complicated array of patent protections on the technology, say researchers.

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NASA personnel are among a group of international researchers who are in the Canadian Arctic assessing concepts for future planetary exploration as part of the Haughton-Mars Project, or HMP-2010. Scientists are using the arid, rocky environment of the Haughton Crater on Devon Island, Canada to simulate conditions that might be encountered by explorers on other [...]

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admin on July 29th, 2010

Researchers are trying to understand the mechanisms at work in the face area of the brain called the “fusiform gyrus” by combining cognitive psychology with techniques like brain imaging and electrophysiology. This research may help business executives better match names with faces, and can lead to better facial recognition software to identify terrorists or criminals.

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Physicists have experimentally observed a quantum phenomenon, where an arbitrarily weak perturbation causes atoms to build an organized structure from an initially unorganized one.

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Men who develop prostate cancer, especially the more aggressive and dangerous forms that spread throughout the body, tend to retain denser bones as they age than men who stay free of the disease, suggests new research.

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admin on July 29th, 2010

Summer storms are a regular feature in the North Atlantic, and while most pose little threat to our shores, a choice few become devastating hurricanes. To decipher which storms could bring danger, and which will not, atmospheric scientists are heading to the tropics to observe these systems as they form and dissipate–or develop into hurricanes.

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There is an increased risk of recurring gestational diabetes in pregnant women who developed gestational diabetes during their first and second pregnancies, according to new study.

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