Science News

Happy "Star Wars Day" from PhysicsCentral! In a case of seriously excellent timing, the European Southern Observatory recently released a photo of their telescope being calibrated. Is it just us, or does it look suspicio...

Some people are taking extremely large doses of the anti-diarrhea medication Imodium in an attempt to get high.

Though it's spoiler-free, if you still haven't seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens, you may want to click away from this post and go take some quiet time to reflect on your life choices. I've uploaded very short clips from...

The private space flight firm's plan to send a lander to Mars in 2018 isn't just ambitious - it's our best chance yet of finding life on the planet

For many fans around the world May 4th is Star Wars Day, playing on the popular phrase 'May the Force Be With You' uttered by many characters in the films including Luke Skywalker's mentor, Yoda.

"Meet Bob who is joining the team today. Charlie and Theresa, you are in charge of the one-hour introduction. After that, he should be ready to do whatever you want him to." On the surface, a pretty standard workplace in...

A space-based detector draws interest, but regulatory hurdles might complicate a partnership --

A new study found that marijuana users who were high at the time they took the survey had substantially higher odds of believing it was safe to drive while under the influence.

The benefits of newborn screening for cystic fibrosis (CF) patients has been reinforced by new research. The findings add to the increasingly overwhelming evidence in favor of newborn screening as a way to improve the qu...

A pair of scientists has discovered that an enzyme previously thought only to be beneficial could, in fact, pose significant danger to developing embryos. The new research could have implications not only for prenatal de...

Certain sugars produced by the body play an important role in the development of colitis and, ultimately, colon cancer. This new finding could potentially lead to therapies for ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and col...

A new study finds that hormones in breast milk may impact the development of healthy bacteria in infants' guts, potentially protecting them from intestinal inflammation, obesity and other diseases later in life.

New guidelines have been released on adult stroke rehabilitation calling for intensive, multidisciplinary treatment. Before leaving the hospital, patients and caregivers should receive a formal falls-prevention program t...

Engineers at Oregon State University have found a new way to induce and control boiling bubble formation, that may allow everything from industrial-sized boilers to advanced electronics to work better and last longer.

The global cost of dengue is an estimated US$8.9 billion annually, higher than several other major infectious diseases such as cholera, rotavirus gastroenteritis, canine rabies and Chagas, say investigators.

Engineers at Oregon State University have found a new way to induce and control boiling bubble formation, that may allow everything from industrial-sized boilers to advanced electronics to work better and last longer.

Researchers have used a 'kidney on a chip' device to mimic the flow of medication through human kidneys and measure its effect on kidney cells. The new technique could lead to more precise dosing of drugs, including some...

Children infected even just once with a certain type of waterborne parasite are nearly three times as likely to suffer from moderate or severe stunted growth by the age of two than those who are not -- regardless of whet...

Soon after birth, a baby's blood is sampled and tested for a number of rare inherited conditions, such as cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia. A new study describes a novel newborn screening test for a progressive neu...

Surgeons and scientists have demonstrated that supervised, autonomous robotic soft tissue surgery on a live subject (in vivo) in an open surgical setting is feasible and outperforms standard clinical techniques in a dyna...

All living cells are basically squishy balloons full of water, proteins and DNA, surrounded by oily membranes. Those membranes stand up to significant amounts of stretching and bending, but only recently have scientists ...

Loss of appetite during illness is a common and potentially debilitating phenomenon--in cancer patients, especially, it can even shorten lifespan. The research also points to possible drug targets to reduce appetite and ...