Poor circulation can come from a lot of things — some more deadly than others. ...read more

Astronauts traveling to Mars will get hit with long-term, low-dosage radiation. A new study in mice suggests the radiation could cause lasting memory and learning problems. (Credit: u3D/Shutterstock) There's a major outstanding question lingering over the future of human spaceflight: Just how much radiation can the body handle? While humans have spent more than a year at a time on orbiting space stations without ill effect from radiation, almost all astronaut experience has been in low-Earth ...read more

A digital reconstruction of two inscribed stones from the cities of Witzna and Naranja, one of which contains a phrase indicating that Witzna was burned. (Credit: Wahl et al./Nature Human Behaviour) The Maya Classic Period, which stretched between roughly 300 and 900 A.D. is typically seen as a kind of golden age for the ancient Central American civilization. Populations boomed, supported by vast systems of terraced fields and canals that provided irrigation in the dry months. Art and scienc ...read more

New Zealand's kiwi birds, a national symbol, are endangered. And scientists say the rest of the island's bird populations have also been hard hit by humans. (Credit: Lakeview Images/Shutterstock) When the Maori arrived to New Zealand from Tahiti some 700 years ago, they found a “land of birds.” The gargantuan, ostrich-like moa stood as tall as 10 feet and the kakapo – a giant flightless parrot with the face of an owl –then roamed the island country in abundance. Today, ...read more

The brain is buzzing with gamma oscillations - cycles of neuronal activity with a frequency (around 40-60 Hz) higher than that of other major brain waves. A longstanding hypothesis is that gamma serves as a kind of 'clock signal' that enables the coordination and integration of signals. Gamma has even been proposed as the mechanism by which the brain 'binds' information from different brain areas into a unitary consciousness. However, while the gamma-clock hypothesis is intriguing, direct ...read more

To understand what life-signs astronomers read from a planet, they must first understand the planet’s star. (Credit: NASA/GSFC/C. Meaney/B. Monroe/S. Wiessinger) When astronomers look for signs of life outside of the solar system, they’re mostly looking for what researchers call biosignatures. These are tell-tale indicators that something is living on another world. So, while the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) draws headlines for hunting alien communications l ...read more

(Credit: Immersion Images/Shutterstock) From the time we see Bambi’s mom bite the dust, we all know what death is. At least, we think we do. But the simple definition of death—that the body stops working—doesn’t take into account how weird our bodies actually are. “We really know nothing about what happens when you die,” says Peter Noble, a former professor at the University of Alabama. Noble knows firsthand that surprises await scientists studying the e ...read more

Comparison of satellite images of the western edge of the Greenland Ice Sheet about 250 miles across, one acquired in 2018 on July 30, and the other on July 31 of this year. Vastly expanded areas of blue in this year's image are indicative of water at the surface. The gray area, known as the "ablation zone," is where ice is exposed and experiencing melting. (Images: NASA Worldview. Animation: Tom Yulsman) As forecast, the dome of heat that brutalized Western Europe has moved over Greenland, ...read more

(Credit: Courtesy of San Diego Zoo) (Inside Science) -- In 1975, medical doctor Kurt Benirschke founded the Center for the Reproduction of Endangered Species with the goal of using molecular genetics tools to save endangered species. In the corner of the modest lab, which contained a freezer with liquid nitrogen to bank cells, Benirschke hung a poster: “You must collect things for reasons you don’t yet understand.” That credo holds true for scientists in cryobiology toda ...read more

A new study of obesity genes and different kinds of exercise finds that jogging is the best way to counteract weight gain. (Credit: By Giuseppe Elio Cammarata/Shutterstock) Obesity is worldwide health problem tied to both nature and nurture. Genetic mutations make some people more likely to gain weight than others, but exercise lessens those chances. Now, some surprising new research suggests that certain exercises are better than others at counteracting these fat genes. For example, cycling ...read more