Coffee? It’s in your genes!
Can’t crawl up to the lecture theatre before all that caffeine kicks in? Science writer Paula Rowińska explains why exactly we fell in love with a drink that all our natural insticts should flag as poisonous.
The Cultural Brain Hypothesis
Over the last few million years, humans and many other animal lineages have evolved larger brains – but why? Recent research from Dr. Michael Muthukrishna and colleagues suggests the development of socially transmitted behaviours within populations, or “culture”, may be a driving force behind this trend. They coined this theory the
Fear is in the Air
How old should one be to watch Harry Potter? What about The Hunger Games? Or Transformers? So far, age ratings for movies depended on subjective opinions. However, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz suggested that we could base the age classification on the isoprene concentration in
Detective Inspector Dog – Mission: Malaria
Recent research from Durham University has identified a promising new method of malarial detection, that may assist or even replace current laboratory methods – sniffer dogs.
Bombs dropped during WWII had effects even at the “edge of space”
World War II is widely known to be the most devastating and deadly war in the history of mankind. However, the study of its impacts beyond Earth is very recent and could play a major role in improving modern technologies. In a study published last month, professor of astrophysics Chris
Store Glacier: storing water?
Recent research from Stanford University has shed light on a phenomenon: liquid water stored in pockets within solid ice. This discovery has important implications for predicting sea level rises under climate change – rises that will impact the lives of billions of people.
The Trolley Problem: What Would You Choose?
Would you kill one person to save five people? With the increasing popularity of self-driving cars, the famous ‘trolley problem’ has turned from a philosophical riddle into a real issue awaiting a solution.
Pick and Choose
While all-you-can-eat buffets always sound like a great idea, our bad choices can quickly turn them into much-more-than-you-can-eat sources of stomach aches and guilt. How do we choose between a juicy burger and mouth-watering lasagne? How do we figure out how much of this tempting apple pie is enough? Neuroscientists
Dark cores (not a new Ben and Jerry’s™ flavour)
“…I know they seem a little narcissistic, but they’re actually a really good person...” – maybe not, states recent research from the University of Copenhagen, which identifies a common denominator across many malevolent human behaviours: a dark core.
Birth of words
Baeless, faved and yaas – if you use Twitter, you will have already seen some of these newly created words. But where do they come from?
2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine: the fight against cancer
James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo’s research may save many lives
Nobel Season: A Summary of the Prizes for 2018
A quick tour of who’s who and what’s what in this year’s greatest scientific achievements