Category: Science
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Evolution. Dark DNA.
Scientists long assumed that new genes appear when evolution tinkers with old ones. There are studies suggesting that genes do not always evolve from existing ones, as biologists long supposed. Instead, some are fashioned from desolate stretches of the genome that do not code for any functional molecules. For example in the fish genomes, there…
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Cosmic-scale magnetic fields. Scientific models’ dirty little secrets…
While researchers have believed for some time that magnetic fields of femto-Gauss strength extend to the largest scales in the universe -- to scales larger than the largest clusters of galaxies -- it is an unresolved mystery how such magnetic fields can have been created in the early universe. One logical possibility is that the…
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Playing itself…
Scientists have created a nano-electronic circuit which vibrates without any external force. Just as a guitar string vibrates when plucked, the wire -- 100,000 times thinner than a guitar string -- vibrates when forced into motion by an oscillating voltage. The surprise came when they repeated the experiment without the forcing voltage. Under the right…
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Children. Adults. Lies.
'If you don't behave, I'll call the police,' is a lie that parents might use to get their young children to behave. Parents' lies elicit compliance in the short term, but a new psychology study suggests that they are associated with detrimental effects when the child becomes an adult. (1) At the end, the truth…
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Understanding language. Word by word…
The capacity for language is distinctly human. It allows us to communicate, learn things, create culture, and think better. Because of its complexity, scientists have long struggled to understand the neurobiology of language. In the classical view, there are two major language areas in the left half of our brain. Broca's area (in the frontal…
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