For the first time, Stanford researchers have compared genetic patterns with archeological findings to discover that genetics can help predict with a high degree of accuracy the presence of certain artifacts. And they say the strength of this link adds credence to theories that prehistoric people migrated from the Middle East to Europe, taking both their ideas and their way of life with them.

“The recovery of history is really a jigsaw puzzle,” said Peter Underhill, PhD, senior research sci

Politicians and pressure groups are much more likely to engage young people in politics through the Internet than more traditional methods, according to new ESRC-funded research. The research, which was carried out by NOP as part of the ESRC`s Democracy and Participation Research Programme, showed that 15-24 year olds are three times more likely to be politically active through the Internet than traditional political activities.

There has been much concern that only 40 per cent of 18-24 year

Nine projects and two extensive networks will share 44 million Swedish kronor (SEK) in research funds, the first grants awarded by Sweden’s new Joint Program on Stem Cell Research. Of nearly 50 applicants, 11 received grants. Several of the funded projects address the nervous system. Diabetes is another area to receive funding. – The entire stem cell field is on the threshold of development. These grants are extremely important for advancing research so that we can identify areas with the greatest po

Researchers at the University of Sheffield and the University of Keele have discovered that Dinoponera quadriceps ants, known as Dinosaur ants, and the Mafia have something in common. Both have dominant leaders who give rivals a “kiss of death”, as a signal for their ‘mob’ to punish the offender. The alpha female in a colony of Dinosaur ants marks rival females with a chemical which signals lower ranking ants in the colony to punish the “pretender”. This secures the alpha female’s position as the onl

The marriage of machine and biology requires adopting the pliability and strength from the legs of this despised insect

The cockroach is an insect despised for its ubiquitousness, among other reasons. Yet, it may hold a key to the next evolutionary step in the “life” of robots.
Background

For years, serious futurists could only imagine that robots, such as the television model, would always be stiff, clumsy, and prone to breakdown. This was before the advent of “Biomimet

Analyses of the similar bones to the fossils lead a leading physiologist to term the anthropological finding as ’farfetched speculation’

The remains included a jawbone with teeth, hand bones and foot bones, fragments of arms, and a piece of collarbone. The remains also included a single toe bone; its form providing strong evidence that the pre-human creatures walked upright.

The discovery by two Ethiopian scholars, Yohannes Haile-Selassie, an anthropologist studyin

New research sheds light on gender differences, running and racing animals

Was Lassie only the second fastest collie in the valley? Was Roy Rogers’s horse Trigger faster than Dale Evans’s filly, Buttermilk? Men are readily acknowledged as faster runners than women. Can the same assumption be made about gender in horses and dogs?

Background

It’s not too hard to see why that assumption might be made. Sir Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four minute mile in 19

People living in the north and west of Britain in poor quality housing are at a significantly greater risk of high blood pressure than those living in warmer climates, and better quality housing, say scientists today.

The research, published recently in the International Journal of Epidemiology, shows how scientists from Imperial College London, the University of Edinburgh and University College London identified an `inverse housing law` in Britain, whereby people in colder climates such as

New research by economists at the University of Warwick reveals that men who smoke but who want a long life should marry without delay as marriage reduces the risk of death by even more than the act of smoking increases the risk of dying.

University of Warwick researchers Professor Andrew Oswald and Dr Jonathan Gardner examined the data from the British Household Panel survey – a nationally representative sample of over 5,000 British households containing over 10,000 adults who had been stu

Ordinary alfalfa plants are being used as miniature gold factories that one day could provide the nanotechnology industry with a continuous harvest of gold nanoparticles.

An international research team from the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) and Mexico advanced the work at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL) – part of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) in Menlo Park, Calif. The researchers are using, as tiny factories, the alfalfa’s natural, physiological

Why are most men taller than women? This age-old height difference persists to this day, according to research to be published in Proceedings B, a Royal Society journal, because taller than average men and shorter than average women were found to be more successful in attracting a mate and having children.

Dr Daniel Nettle of the Open University used data from 10,000 men and women born in Britain in one week in March 1958 and his study concluded that the taller the men were, the less likely

Routine parent-child bedsharing before 6 years of age appears to have no major impact on a child’s subsequent development or behavior — for better or for worse, the first long-term study of the practice reveals.

The researchers’ finding that there is “no evidence linking [early parent-child bedsharing], when engaged in responsibly, with any sort of problematic outcome” should give experts who caution against the practice reason to reconsider their advice, according to lead author Paul Oka

Study links body fat, cancer risk

Hispanic women have been known to run a lower risk of developing breast cancer than most other women, but their breast cancer rates are climbing—and increasing obesity is one factor that might be to blame.

The weight that Hispanic women gain during adulthood and their body fat may put them at greater risk for breast cancer both before and after menopause, according to researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC, the University of New

Study hypothesizes that adolescent steroid exposure may permanently alter the production of the ’feel good’ receptor

“With more than one in ten boys admitting to using steroids, muscle- and strength-enhancing drug use among teenagers has caused considerable concern among parents and researchers over the past decade, but until now, the longer-term physiological and neurological effects of its use on the developing brain have not been fully examined. Now, new research from Nor

R&D strongest in companies that hire CEO’s who are young, have background in marketing, science, R&D, says O.R. study

Research and Development spending to generate innovative new products is strongest at corporations whose CEO’s are younger, invest heavily in their own firms’ stock, and have experience in marketing, engineering, or R&D, according to a study in a journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®).

In contras

Without adequate cleaning regimes swimming pools can become a health hazard.
Now water experts and mathematicians are ‘pooling’ their expertise to anticipate the factors that lead to an unhealthy swimming environment.

The researchers are testing different water treatments using a unique pilot pool, donated by an advisory body, that simulates the chemical environment of a municipal swimming pool. Significantly this research technique could also be applied to other water recycling systems,