Automated vehicles could be made more pedestrian-friendly thanks to new research which could help them predict when people will cross the road. University of Leeds-led scientists investigating how to better understand human behaviour in traffic say that neuroscientific theories of how the brain makes decisions can be used in automated vehicle technology to improve safety and make […]

Scientists have found that the psychedelic drug psilocybin, in development as an anti-depressive treatment, changes the emotional state of people listening to music. Psilocybin is the active psychedelic ingredient in ‘magic mushrooms’. Clinical trials of psilocybin generally use selected music playlists to support the drug-induced psychedelic experience, and this work shows that enhanced emotional processing […]

Not long after the dawn of complex animal life, tens of millions of years before the first of the “Big Five” mass extinctions, a rash of die-offs struck the world’s oceans. Then, for reasons that scientists have debated for at least 40 years, extinctions slowed down. A new Stanford University study shows rising oxygen levels […]

Deep in the heart of the Yucatan Peninsula, an ancient mangrove ecosystem flourishes more than 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the nearest ocean. This is unusual because mangroves—salt-tolerant trees, shrubs, and palms—are typically found along tropical and subtropical coastlines. A new study led by researchers across the University of California system in the United States […]

Our genetic code is millions of times more efficient at storing data than existing solutions, which are costly and use immense amounts of energy and space. In fact, we could get rid of hard drives and store all the digital data on the planet within a couple hundred pounds of DNA. Using DNA as a […]

A revolutionary new diagnostic method for prostate cancer can detect prostate cancer cells that have spread to lymph nodes both inside and outside the pelvis, according to the UC San Francisco and UCLA team whose earlier work led to the test’s FDA approval. The test, which is now available at UCSF and UCLA, makes cancer […]

Before developing his famed “drip technique,” abstract artist Jackson Pollock dabbled in drawing, print making and surrealist paintings of humans, animals and nature. According to a new study involving researchers at the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology, this period of exploration followed by exploitation of his new drip technique set up Pollock […]

European researchers and industry are putting insects to work – from termites that destroy wooden buildings to insect larvae that are star ‘poop’ composters. Packaging, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and animal feed are just some of the products they are beetling away to make for us. Insects are fascinating! Their classic circle of life we all learned […]

Chemical analysis has helped decipher censored messages sent between the last queen of France Marie Antoinette and a Swedish count rumoured to be her secret lover. During the French revolution in the late 18th century, Marie Antoinette kept up a secret correspondence with the Swedish diplomat Axel von Fersen. Not only did von Fersen keep […]

A busy commuter is ready to walk out the door, only to realize they’ve misplaced their keys and must search through piles of stuff to find them. Rapidly sifting through clutter, they wish they could figure out which pile was hiding the keys. Researchers at MIT have created a robotic system that can do just […]