Look out, L’Oréal: Whales play with seaweed to exfoliate their skin

Play is an important part of animal behavior, helping diverse species form social structures and bonds, develop cognitive function and enhance physical abilities. Yet human understanding of how other animals play is not well understood. Now, scientists… Continue reading Look out, L’Oréal: Whales play with seaweed to exfoliate their skin

Tire wear and tear revealed as a major contributor to waterway pollution

Australian researchers have found that tire wear and tear is a major contributor to urban waterway pollution, producing particulate matter that includes microplastics. But, they also found that there are effective ways of reducing this type of pollutio… Continue reading Tire wear and tear revealed as a major contributor to waterway pollution

Increasing human footprint influences spread of insect-borne diseases

Much of the Earth has been modified by humans, which has a flow-on effect on natural ecosystems, including the insects that carry disease. For the first time, researchers have examined when and how environmental change affects the transmission of insec… Continue reading Increasing human footprint influences spread of insect-borne diseases

Stone Age surgery: Ancient amputation marks oldest known operation

Archeologists Andika Priyatno and Tim Maloney excavate the remains

Archeologists have discovered the oldest evidence of a surgical procedure in humans. A Stone Age hunter-gatherer, who lived more than 30,000 years ago, was found to have a carefully amputated leg, making it the earliest known surgery by tens of thousands of years.

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Enzyme blocker could open new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases

A molecular model of the structure of SARM1 and its inhibitor

Researchers have uncovered how a certain molecular pathway triggers the breakdown of nerve fibers in neurodegenerative diseases – and more importantly, how to potentially switch it off. The find could lead to a new class of drugs that slows the progression of these debilitating disorders.

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Bacteria could travel from the nose to the brain and trigger Alzheimer’s

A new study has found evidence that nose bacteria could move into the brain through the nerves and trigger a cascade of events that can lead to Alzheimer's disease

Researchers in Australia have found evidence that bacteria that live in the nose can make their way into the brain through nasal cavity nerves, setting off a series of events that could lead to Alzheimer’s disease. The work adds to the growing body of evidence that Alzheimer’s may be initially triggered through viral or bacterial infections.

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Physicists to look for quantum time dilation inside nuclear reactor

We’re all too familiar with the inexorable march of time, but why exactly it flows in one direction remains a mystery of physics. A few years ago Australian physicist Joan Vaccaro proposed a new quantum theory of time, and now a team is planning to tes… Continue reading Physicists to look for quantum time dilation inside nuclear reactor

World’s oldest known figurative artwork found in Indonesian cave

Dated more than 45,000 years ago, this cave painting found in Indonesia is the oldest known artwork depicting a reco

Archaeologists have discovered what they claim to be the oldest example of figurative art made by human hands. An ochre painting of pigs, found on a cave wall in Indonesia, has been dated to be at least 45,500 years old.

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Farmer fish become first animal found domesticating another species

Human civilization wouldn’t be where it is today if we hadn’t domesticated animals to be either loyal and cuddly or dumb and tasty. Now, researchers in Australia have discovered what they claim is the very first example of an animal domesticating anoth… Continue reading Farmer fish become first animal found domesticating another species

120,000-year-old footprints mark oldest evidence of humans in Arabia

Archeologists have discovered fossilized human footprints in Saudi Arabia that help fill in the story of the early migration of our species. Dating back 120,000 years, the tracks are the oldest evidence of the presence of modern humans on the Arabian P… Continue reading 120,000-year-old footprints mark oldest evidence of humans in Arabia