Human Quirks News

August 20, 2016

The Internet Is Taking Over Human Memory

Nanorobots Target Cancerous Tumors

Checking out Competition Enlarged Our Brain

Mice Brain 'Reprogrammed' With Light Beam

Latest Headlines

updated 11:41am EDT

For Sensation-Seekers, the Color Red Can Elicit Rebelliousness, Study Finds

Aug. 17, 2016 — The widespread use of the color red to signal danger can actually be counterproductive for certain people, says new research. Under certain conditions, say investigators, the color red can arouse ... read more

Study Casts Doubt on Claim That People Are Over-Optimistic

Aug. 16, 2016 — For many decades scientists have believed that people have an 'irrational optimism bias' -- a tendency to underestimate their chances of negative experiences, while overestimating their chances of ... read more

Backup Plans May Keep You from Achieving Your Goal, Research Shows

Aug. 11, 2016 — When it comes to setting organizational and personal goals, making a backup plan has been seen as a sensible way to deal with uncertainty -- to be prepared if things don't go as expected. However, ... read more

Your Brain on Google Glass

Aug. 11, 2016 — A group of biomedical engineers use functional near-infrared spectroscopy to measure mental workload as subjects navigate a ... read more

Reducing the Harms of Alcohol Through Weaker Beer

Aug. 10, 2016 — Could a small drop in the alcohol content of beer or other drinks reduce the harmful effects of alcohol in society at large? A new review, which explores the evidence, suggests this approach may be ... read more

Believe It or Not: Exercise Does More Good If You Believe It Will

Aug. 11, 2016 — People benefit more from exercise when they believe it will have a positive effect, new research indicates. A psychologist and his team have conducted a study demonstrating that test subjects derive ... read more

Orangutan Able to Guess a Taste Without Sampling It, Just Like Us

Aug. 11, 2016 — Without having tasted a new juice mix before, an orangutan in a Swedish zoo has enough sense to know whether it will taste nice or not based on how he recombined relevant ... read more

Paraplegics Regain Some Feeling, Movement After Using Brain-Machine Interfaces

Aug. 11, 2016 — Eight people who have spent years paralyzed from spinal cord injuries have regained partial sensation and muscle control in ... read more

Recording Selfies While Brushing Teeth Can Improve Oral Health Care Skills

Aug. 10, 2016 — Recording smart phone video 'selfies' of tooth-brushing can help people learn to improve their oral health care techniques, according to a new ... read more

Psychologist's Magic Makes a Non-Existent Object Disappear

Aug. 9, 2016 — Experimental psychologists have developed their own magic trick to explore human perception. 32 percent of people were convinced by a magician that they'd just seen an object ... read more

Viruses Might Be More Likely To Get You Sick In The Morning

Rats With Nose for Trouble Train to Save Lives in Tanzania

Cupping Therapy Makes the Rounds at the Olympics

Here's What Those Red Spots On Michael Phelps' Back Were All About

We Understand That Social Media Does Not Equal Social Interaction

Aug. 11, 2016 — If you worry that people today are using social media as a crutch for a real social life, a study will set you at ease. A new study found that people are actually quite adept at discerning the ... read more

Dreaming Also Occurs During Non Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

Aug. 9, 2016 — Measurements demonstrated that the brain activity of people who dream during NREM sleep, compared to people who do not dream in NREM sleep, is closer to brain activity of awake ... read more

Stem Cells of Worms, Humans More Similar Than Expected

Aug. 9, 2016 — The transient form of genetic information, the RNA, is processed in a similar manner in the cells of both organisms. These mechanisms seem to be at work throughout the whole animal kingdom. ... read more

New Study Confirms Adage That With Age Comes Wisdom

Aug. 8, 2016 — Older adults are better at interpreting the correct slope of a hill than young adults, which researchers believe is because of greater life ... read more

Navigating the Human Genome With Sequins

Aug. 8, 2016 — Australian genomics researchers have announced the development of Sequins -- synthetic 'mirror' DNA sequences that reflect the human genome. This intuitive new technology, which can be used ... read more

Viewing Video in Slow Motion Makes Action Appear More Intentional, New Study Finds

Aug. 4, 2016 — Watching a video of a harmful or violent act being committed can provide useful evidence of the circumstances surrounding the action. But new research shows that watching that same video in slow ... read more

Sharks Get Bad Rap When Viewed With Ominous Background Music

Aug. 4, 2016 — In a new study, researchers found that the background music in shark documentaries affects viewers' perceptions of sharks. The researchers suggest that ominous background music could hinder ... read more

Toe-Tapping to Better Health: Fidgeting Helps Prevent Arterial Dysfunction from Sitting

Aug. 4, 2016 — Previous research has shown that sitting for an extended period of time at a computer or during a long airline flight reduces blood flow to the legs, which may contribute to the development of ... read more

Phase-Change Device Imitates the Functionality of Neurons

Aug. 4, 2016 — Scientists have created randomly spiking neurons using phase-change materials to store and process data. This demonstration marks a significant step forward in the development of energy-efficient, ... read more

New Microfluidic Chip Replicates Muscle-Nerve Connection

Aug. 3, 2016 — Engineers have developed a microfluidic device that replicates the neuromuscular junction -- the vital connection where nerve meets muscle. The device, about the size of a US quarter, contains a ... read more

Study Uses GPS Technology to Predict Football Injuries

Aug. 2, 2016 — Soccer players' injuries may be predicted by looking at players' workloads during training and competition, according to new research. Researchers discovered that the greatest injury risk ... read more

Flexible Wearable Electronic Skin Patch Offers New Way to Monitor Alcohol Levels

Aug. 2, 2016 — Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a flexible wearable sensor that can accurately measure a person's blood alcohol level from sweat and transmit the data ... read more

People Not Technology Will Drive Success of Autonomous Vehicles

Aug. 2, 2016 — As the world moves closer to autonomous and self-driving vehicles, road safety experts are turning from technology to psychology to better understand the road to safer ... read more

Origins of the Female Orgasm Explained

Aug. 1, 2016 — Female orgasm seems to be a happy afterthought of our evolutionary past when it helped stimulate ovulation, a new study of mammals ... read more

Scientists Grow Mini Human Brains

July 30, 2016 — Mini midbrains provide next generation platforms to investigate human brain biology, diseases and therapeutics, report ... read more

Replication Project Investigates Self-Control as Limited Resource

July 29, 2016 — A new research replication project, involving 24 labs and over 2,100 participants, failed to reproduce findings from a previous study that suggested that self-control is a depletable ... read more

Human Nose Holds Novel Antibiotic Effective Against Multiresistant Pathogens

July 29, 2016 — A potential lifesaver lies unrecognized in the human body: Scientists have discovered that Staphylococcus lugdunensis which colonizes in the human nose produces a previously unknown antibiotic. As ... read more

No Dream: Electric Brain Stimulation During Sleep Can Boost Memory

July 28, 2016 — For the first time, scientists report using transcranial alternating current stimulation, or tACS, to target a specific kind of brain activity during sleep and strengthen memory in healthy ... read more

Music Makes Beer Taste Better

July 28, 2016 — Music can influence how much you like the taste of beer, according to a new ... read more

Microswimmer Robot Chains Can Decouple and Reconnect in a Magnetic Field

July 28, 2016 — Researchers have successfully pulled off a feat that both sci-fi fans and Michael Phelps could appreciate. Using a rotating magnetic field they show how multiple chains of microscopic magnetic ... read more

Thursday, August 11, 2016