Deaf Infants Already Process Information Differently

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Babies, many people agree, are pretty interesting. Not because of their personalities (although, to be sure, some babies are great wits), but because of everything going on in their little baby brains. The complex and intricate processing power of an adult brain is literally taking shape within a newborn’s head, as experiences and sensory input forge new neural connections. And if a baby is missing one of those senses — say, hearing — it’s reasonable to think her brain wo ...read more

Silent Neurons: The Dark Matter of the Brain?

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Now here's a paper with an interesting title: The dark matter of the brain Author Saak V. Ovsepian argues that "the great majority of nerve cells in the intact brain do not fire action potentials, i.e., are permanently silent." This is a remarkable claim, and it raises the question of what these silent neurons are doing. However, I didn't find myself convinced of the existence of this 'dark matter'. Ovsepian points out that numerous studies have found that only a minority of the ne ...read more

Melting Ice Sheets Will Really Mess With a Fundamental Ocean Current

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Researchers have updated their predictions for what melting ice sheets will do to the planet within the next century. By 2100, the shrinking Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets will raise sea levels by nearly 10 inches. The influx of water will disrupt an ocean current vital to our weather, with dangerous consequences. “We’re dealing with a very delicately balanced system,” said Nicholas Golledge, a climate scientist at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, ...read more

Women’s Brains Are Younger Than Men’s of the Same Age, Study Finds

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Scientists have found an odd difference between the brains of men and women. Women’s brains appear younger than their age, but men’s brains appear to be older. When looking at the brains of both sexes of the same chronological age, women’s brains were 3.8 years younger and men's brains were 2.4 years older on average. The finding, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, may explain why older women tend to outperform their male pe ...read more

With ALMA, Astronomers Find A Bounty of Organic Molecules Near a Young Star

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

One of the fundamental questions in looking for life in the universe is figuring out where the materials necessary for making life are likely to exist. These complex organic molecules are, somewhat surprisingly, found all over: in giant dust clouds in space, and on lonely comets in our own solar system. The question for astronomers is figuring out how they make their way onto planets like Earth. Astronomers looking to learn about the solar system's early history often turn to comets, as t ...read more