Author Archives: agnieszka

The calming influence of nature may even work on stressed-out drivers. Jack Nasar and Jean Marie Cackowski of Ohio State University report in the November issue of Environment and Behavior that people who viewed a videotape of a scenic drive … Continue reading →

Researchers have found a way to use magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, to help predict who will sustain memory decline, according to a study appearing in the December issue of Radiology. Henry Rusinek of the New York University School of … Continue reading →

Tired of boring, normal pets with their dull, unmodified genomes? Yorktown Technologies, a Texas-based company, is betting you are. Over the objections of several environmental groups, the company plans to release the genetically modified GloFish to consumers on Jan. 5. … Continue reading →

It often seems that the golden age of animal discovery is over. Oh, sure, there are still plenty of insects and microbes left to identify, and the occasional new frog species hops by, but finding a big mammal that’s new … Continue reading →

Last week, the World Conservation Union released its annual list of species in danger of extinction. The so-called “Red List” is updated every year, based on information from thousands of conservation experts around the world. This year’s list makes especially … Continue reading →

Everyone knows that friendship is good for you: strong social bonds are important to health, both mental and physical. But it now looks like it’s also good for your children: Researchers have shown a direct link between having friends and … Continue reading →

To the disappointment of future lunar colonists everywhere, the moon may have much less water than previously thought. Observations from NASA’s Lunar Prospector orbiter a few years back had fueled hopes that thick layers of ice, which could have been … Continue reading →

Prehistoric Alaska once teemed with woolly mammoths, large bison, and wild horses. Then, about 10,000 to 20,000 years ago, about 70 percent of North America’s large mammal population mysteriously disappeared — including all the existing horse species. (The Americas remained … Continue reading →

Here’s another reason mad cow disease might keep you up at night. It turns out that there might be a small chance of contracting the human version, known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), through routine surgery. Both mad cow and CJD … Continue reading →

Is there anything more annoying than having something stuck in your teeth? It looks like our oldest human ancestors may have been bothered by the exact same feeling. Paleontologists have been puzzled by the tiny grooves discovered on fossilized hominid … Continue reading →