This lively RSA Animate, adapted from Dan Pink’s talk at the RSA, illustrates the hidden truths behind what really motivates us at home and in the workplace — via RSA
Fresh doubts have been cast about how useful helmets are in preventing head injuries to cyclists.
An analysis by Norwegian researchers of existing studies has suggested previous scrutiny was biased towards helmets and relied too heavily on research into 1980s stack-hat
style hard-shell helmets. They argued that today’s soft-shell
helmets were less effective at reducing brain injuries — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Two new species of freshwater stingray have been discovered in the Amazon rain forest.
They both look like pancakes with noses, as images of the species show. The two “pancake” species belong to the first new stingray genus found in the Amazon region in more than two decades, according to Nathan Lovejoy, a biologist at the University of Toronto in Scarborough, and Marcelo Rodrigues de Carvalho of the University of São Paolo in Brazil. — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Electric wands could allow future firefighters to extinguish flames with a wave of the hand, recent experiments suggest — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Pregnant mares are likely to lose their foals if they are kept close to stallions, researchers have discovered.
Horse breeders, including thoroughbred breeders in the UK, often send mares to stables to be mated with stallions.
But a study reveals that, when they return, the pregnant mares engage in “promiscuous sex” with males in their home stables, in an attempt to disguise the paternity of the foal.
When this is not possible, the mares often abort the pregnancy — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Researchers are going bananas in the quest to build cleaner, greener cars.
Brazilian scientists have developed a way of using fibers from bananas, pineapples and other plants to create plastic that is stronger and lighter than the petroleum-based stuff. So-called nanocellulose fibers rival Kevlar in strength but are renewable, and the researchers believe they could be widely used within a couple of years — via redwolf.newsvine.com
As anyone who has been stung by one would know, wasps have anger management issues. The yellow jacket wasp is no different, but when it wants to bully something small, it eschews the stinger for something more creative. When a wasp comes upon a swarm of ants on food it wants, it will simply pick the pests up and fling them away: a previously undocumented way of dealing with a competitor — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Nearly all the energy we use on this planet starts out as sunlight that plants use to knit chemical bonds. Now, for the first time, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge have created a potentially cheap, practical artificial leaf that does much the same thing—providing a potentially limitless source of energy that’s easy to tap.
The new device is a silicon wafer about the shape and size of a playing card coated on either side with two different catalysts. The silicon absorbs sunlight and passes that energy to the catalysts to split water into molecules of hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen is a fuel that can be either burned or used in a fuel cell to create electricity, reforming water in either case. This means that in theory, anyone with access to water can use it to create a cheap, clean, and available source of fuel. — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Ants and termites have a significant positive impact on crop yields in dryland agriculture, according to a paper published today in the journal Nature Communications by scientists at CSIRO and the University of Sydney — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A new study has found older men who are slightly overweight are less likely to develop dementia.
The University of Western Australia study surveyed men aged between 65 and 84 years of age over a ten year period — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A drug containing the sleep hormone melatonin is to be tested in Scotland to find out if it helps reduce the effects of dementia.
Glasgow-based firm, CPS Research, aims to recruit 50 people with Alzheimer’s disease for the clinical trial of the drug, Circadin — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Stressed-out parents to be could be passing on damaged DNA to their children and increasing their risk of dying at an earlier age, researchers suspect.
A £1.8 million study has been launched by scientists at Glasgow University to find out what effect stress has on the genetic make-up of the human body and whether any changes are then inherited by offspring. The study, backed by a European Research Council grant, will focus on the role of telomeres, structures that act as a protective shield for chromosomes — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The main chemical in the curry spice turmeric could be the basis for cheap explosives detectors, say researchers.
The curcumin molecule is already well-known in medicine for its anti-cancer and anti-oxidant properties.
Now, research presented at the American Physical Society meeting suggests it could replace more complex solutions to spot explosives like TNT — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Treating Parkinson’s disease with gene therapy has been shown to be successful in clinical trials for the first time, say US researchers — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The world’s rarest albatross has been confirmed as a separate species by scientists — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Silk worms that produce vibrantly coloured and luminescent silks have been created by scientists in Singapore. The resulting fibre offers a cheap way to circumvent the dying process and may even have medical applications — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Researchers have found pipelines on the floor of Bass Strait are providing attractive habitats for Australian fur seals — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Tired of your glasses fogging up on cold days, or of having to spit in your dive mask before putting it on? Those hassles may become a thing of the past, as researchers from Quebec City’s Université Laval have developed what they claim is the world’s first permanent anti-fog coating. Just one application is said to work indefinitely on eyeglasses, windshields, camera lenses, or any other transparent glass or plastic surface.
The actual anti-fog coating itself is composed of polyvinyl alcohol, which is a hydrophilic compound that causes the individual droplets of condensation to disperse. Before it can go on to a surface, however, a base of four successive layers of silicon molecules are first applied via an atmospheric plasma process. These layers bond to one another, but also allow the alcohol to bond to them, ensuring the durability and hardness of the combined coating — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Marine biologists say they have learnt more about the behaviour of pilot whales after the latest stranding in Tasmania — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Using a classic animal psychology experiment scientists have found that elephants have a rare understanding of how cooperation works and will offer a helping trunk to those in need — via redwolf.newsvine.com
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