Popular science news: last week

Researchers conclude that what causes menopause is -- wait for it -- men

After decades of laboring under other theories that never seemed to add up, a team led by biologist Rama Singh has concluded that what causes menopause in women is men.

Printing artificial bone

Researchers working to design new materials that are durable, lightweight and environmentally sustainable are increasingly looking to natural composites, such as bone, for inspiration: Bone is strong and tough because...

Life underground

Microbes are living more than 500 feet beneath the seafloor in 5 million-year-old sediment, according to new findings by researchers at the University of Delaware and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution...

Chalking up a marine blooming alga: Genome fills a gap in the tree of life

To World War II soldiers, "The White Cliffs of Dover" was a morale-boosting song that lifted spirits in dark times. To geographers, the white cliffs mark the point at which...

Study of oceans' past raises worries about their future

The ocean the Titanic sailed through just over 100 years ago was very different from the one we swim in today. Global warming is increasing ocean temperatures and harming marine...

Fossil kangaroo teeth reveal mosaic of Pliocene ecosystems in Queensland

The teeth of a kangaroo and other extinct marsupials reveal that southeastern Queensland 2.5-5-million-years ago was a mosaic of tropical forests, wetlands and grasslands and much less arid than previously...

New kind of variable star discovered

The Swiss are justly famed for their craftsmanship when creating extremely precise pieces of technology. Now a Swiss team from the Geneva Observatory has achieved extraordinary precision using a comparatively...

'Popcorn' particle pathways promise better lithium-ion batteries

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have confirmed the particle-by-particle mechanism by which lithium ions move in and out of electrodes made of lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4, or LFP), findings that...

Directed in vitro technique may increase insulin resistance among offspring

A special type of in vitro fertilization, or IVF, may increase the risk for insulin resistance among children conceived in this way, according to a new study from Greece.

New compound excels at killing persistent and drug-resistant tuberculosis

An international team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has identified a highly...

People attribute minds to robots, corpses that are targets of harm

As Descartes famously noted, there's no way to really know that another person has a mind -- every mind we observe is, in a sense, a mind we create. Now,...

Warm ocean drives most Antarctic ice shelf loss, UC Irvine and others show

Ocean waters melting the undersides of Antarctic ice shelves, not icebergs calving into the sea, are responsible for most of the continent's ice loss, a study by UC Irvine and others has found.

Moving iron in Antarctica

The seas around Antarctica can, at times, resemble a garden. Large-scale experiments where scientists spray iron into the waters, literally fertilizing phytoplankton, have created huge human-made algal blooms. Such geoengineering...

Testosterone improves verbal learning and memory in postmenopausal women

Postmenopausal women had better improvement in verbal learning and memory after receiving treatment with testosterone gel, compared with women who received sham treatment with a placebo, a new study found.

Osteoporosis drug stops growth of breast cancer cells, even in resistant tumors

A drug approved in Europe to treat osteoporosis has now been shown to stop the growth of breast cancer cells, even in cancers that have become resistant to current targeted...

Scan predicts whether therapy or meds will best lift depression

Pre-treatment scans of brain activity predicted whether depressed patients would best achieve remission with an antidepressant medication or psychotherapy, in a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Video gamers really do see more

Hours spent at the video gaming console not only train a player's hands to work the buttons on the controller, they probably also train the brain to make better and...

Automated 'coach' could help with social interactions

Social phobias affect about 15 million adults in the United States, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, and surveys show that public speaking is high on the list...

Submarine springs reveal how coral reefs respond to ocean acidification

Ocean acidification due to rising carbon dioxide levels will reduce the density of coral skeletons, making coral reefs more vulnerable to disruption and erosion, according to a new study of...

New array measures vibrations across skin may help engineers design tactile displays

In the near future, a buzz in your belt or a pulse from your jacket may give you instructions on how to navigate your surroundings.

How useful is fracking anyway? Study explores return of investment

The value of a fuel's long-term usefulness and viability is judged through its energy return on investment; the comparison between the eventual fuel and the energy invested to create it....

Researchers explode the myth about running injuries

If you are healthy and plan to start running for the first time, it is perfectly all right to put on a pair of completely ordinary 'neutral' running shoes without...