pWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Polar bears designation as a threatened species was challenged in a U.S. a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=threatened-species-listing-for-polar[More]/a
pBy Matt Kaplan of Nature magazine/p a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fossil-scars-capture-dinosaur-headbutts[More]/a
pBy Mo Costandi of Nature magazine/p a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=scientists-read-dreams[More]/a
pBy Matt Kaplan of Nature magazine/p a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fossil-scars-capture-dinosaur-headbutts[More]/a
New Orleans, October 16, 2012 - You walk into a bar and music is thumping. All heads are bobbing and feet tapping in synchrony. Somehow the rhythmic sound grabs control of the brains of everyone in the room forcing them to operate simultaneously and perform the same behaviors in synchrony. How is this possible? Is this unconscious mind control by rhythmic sound only driving our bodily motions, or could it be affecting deeper mental processes?The mystery runs deeper than previously thought, according to psychologist Annette Schirmer reporting new findings today at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in New Orleans. Rhythmic sound not only coordinates the behavior of people in a group, it also coordinates their thinking--the mental processes of individuals in the group become synchronized. a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=the-power-of-music-mind-control-by-rhythmic-sound[More]/a
pCharitable donations to help protect an endangered species are one thing. But would you don a piece of permanent body art to save a mammal, plant or even a fungi? Three years ago, 100 men and women in the U.K.--average people, not scientists--did just that. Each of them went under the needle to get a tattoo of a species they vowed to help protect. A traveling exhibition that lauds these inked advocates will soon come to a close, but the project may spawn broader outreach efforts./p a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=endangered-tattoos-volunteers-get-inked-help-save-species[More]/a
pThere#39;s money to be made in the barren corners of the world./p a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=growing-biofuels-on-surplus-land-may-be-harder-than-estimated[More]/a
[caption id=attachment_391 align=alignleft width=300 caption=Temple Grandin] [/caption]A few random personal picks from the Society for Neurosciences annual meeting in New Orleans, which ended Oct. 17: a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=a-little-hard-science-from-the-big-easy-temple-grandins-brain-and-transgenic-sniffer-mice[More]/a
p(Reuters) - U.S. a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=us-wind-industry-adding-record-number[More]/a
p Editor#39;s note: Chris Berdik#39;s Mind Over Mind examines the myriad effects of expectations--whether the eager eyes of sports fans on a key player, anticipating a sip of expensive wine or the mysterious medical efficacy of a placebo. In this excerpt, Berdik describes a peculiar contagion that some scientists attribute to the placebo#39;s harmful counterpart, the nocebo effect--in which our expectations cause harm. /p a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=excerpt-berdik-expectations-dancing-to-death[More]/a
p Editor#39;s note: Chris Berdik#39;s Mind Over Mind examines the myriad effects of expectations--whether the eager eyes of sports fans on a key player, anticipating a sip of expensive wine or the mysterious medical efficacy of a placebo. In this excerpt, Berdik describes a peculiar contagion that some scientists attribute to the placebo#39;s harmful counterpart, the nocebo effect--in which our expectations cause harm. /p a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=excerpt-berdik-expectations-dancing-to-death[More]/a
Bees are the most important pollinators of our crops, but their numbers are decreasing. In this video, buzzy researchers Nigel Raine and Richard Gill explain how two commonly used pesticides harm bumblebee colonies.
Bees are the most important pollinators of our crops, but their numbers are decreasing. In this video, buzzy researchers Nigel Raine and Richard Gill explain how two commonly used pesticides harm bumblebee colonies.
