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Science / Mind & Body

Move and This Interface Will Adjust Its 3D Form Accordingly

MIT students have developed a motion-based interface that allow users from afar to build formations in real time

Compared to a control brain (top), neuroscientist James Fallon’s brain (bottom) shows significantly decreased activity in areas of the frontal lobe linked to empathy and morality—anatomical patterns that have been linked with psychopathic behavior.

The Neuroscientist Who Discovered He Was a Psychopath

While studying brain scans to search for patterns that correlated with psychopathic behavior, James Fallon found that his own brain fit the profile

Researchers have found neurological abnormalities that persist long after the symptoms of a concussion have faded away.

Four Months After a Concussion, Your Brain Still Looks Different Than Before

Researchers have found neurological abnormalities that persist long after the symptoms of a concussion have faded away

Photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher captures tears of grief, joy, laughter and irritation in extreme detail. Above: Tears of timeless reunion

Art Meets Science

The Microscopic Structures of Dried Human Tears

Photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher captures tears of grief, joy, laughter and irritation in extreme detail

When neurons misfire: Those who can remember what they ate for lunch on a day ten years ago can be fooled by tests that distort memories.

Even People With “Perfect Memory” Can Be Tricked Into Recalling Fake Events

Those who can remember what they ate on a day ten years ago can be fooled by tests that distort memories

The Foodini

Hungry? A Startup Wants You to 3D Print Your Next Meal

The Foodini may allow people to painlessly prepare healthier meals instead of reaching for that factory-processed stuff sitting in the freezer

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10 Things We’ve Learned About Fat

Experts have long known that trans fat isn’t good for us, but research has turned up surprises—chocolate and chili peppers can help us lose fat

Art Meets Science

Do Our Brains Find Certain Shapes More Attractive Than Others?

A new exhibition in Washington, D.C., claims that humans have an affinity for curves—and there is scientific data to prove it

Simply by looking at geo-tagged tweets, an algorithm can track the spread of flu and predict which users are going to get sick.

Your Tweets Can Predict When You’ll Get the Flu

Simply by looking at geotagged tweets, an algorithm can track the spread of flu and predict which users are going to get sick

The brain scan on right shows Alzheimer’s damage.

How Lasers Could Be the Answer to Alzheimer’s

They’re now able to detect the clumps of toxic proteins that destroy the brain. One day they may be able to get rid of them

Can This Bracelet Actually Replace a Heater?

MIT students have developed Wristify, a wearable cooling and heating system designed to regulate body temperature and save on energy bills

A Romanian Scientist Claims to Have Developed Artificial Blood

A true blood substitute can be a major breakthrough that can save lives. Testing out a batch, however, can be a problem

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Why the Oral Contraceptive Is Just Known as “The Pill”

A new birth control method gave women unprecedented power and revolutionized daily life

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Watch a Tick Burrowing Into Skin in Microscopic Detail

Their highly specialized biting technique allows ticks to pierce skin with tiny harpoons and suck blood for days at a time

Superbugs are making public health experts very nervous.

What Will It Take to Wipe Out Superbugs?

Scientists are taking all kinds of approaches to try to stop the ominous threat from bacteria antibiotics can no longer kill

Everyone has a unique “fingerprint” of oral bacteria species, and new research shows that it correlates with genetic and ethnic factors.

Your Ethnicity Determines the Species of Bacteria That Live in Your Mouth

Everyone has a unique “fingerprint” of oral bacteria species, and new research shows that, in isolation, it can be used to predict your ethnicity

Scientists have identified a milk protein called Tenascin C that binds to HIV (the virus is shown here in green) and prevents it from injecting its DNA into human immune system cells (shown in purple, with pseudopodia in pink).

Discovered: A Natural Protein in Breast Milk That Fights HIV

Scientists have identified a milk protein called Tenascin C that binds to HIV and prevents it from injecting its DNA into human cells

The Perfect Way to Ripen Fruit and Other Ingenious Inventions Recognized by the Dyson Awards

Entries into the annual inventors competition include an Iron Man-inspired suit and a printer that fits in your bag

This “Death Watch” Allegedly Counts Down the Last Seconds of Your Life

A watch that predicts when its wearer will expire is proving popular with the masses. But why?

By altering levels of the naturally-occurring chemical kynurenic acid in the brain, scientists made marijuana’s active ingredient THC less pleasurable, leading monkeys to voluntarily consume 80 percent less of it.

Is This Chemical a Cure For Marijuana Addiction?

By altering levels of kynurenic acid in the brain, scientists made marijuana less pleasurable, leading monkeys to voluntarily consume 80 percent less of it

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