Extreme Climate Survey Science News is collecting reader questions about how to navigate our planet’s changing climate. What do you want to know about extreme heat and how it can…
Category: Life
How beneficial soil microbes boost indirect plant defenses against herbivores – Functional Ecologists
In our new post, Tuğcan Alınç, postdoctoral research at University of Palermo, presents his work ‘Root inoculation with beneficial soil microbes enhances indirect plant defenses induced by insect feeding and…
Manipulating Brain Waves During Sleep With Sound
Summary: Sound stimulation can manipulate brain waves during REM sleep, a stage crucial for memory and cognition. Using advanced technology, researchers were able to increase the frequency of brain oscillations…
AI Conversations Help Conspiracy Theorists Change Their Views
Summary: AI-powered conversations can reduce belief in conspiracy theories by 20%. Researchers found that AI provided tailored, fact-based rebuttals to participants’ conspiracy claims, leading to a lasting change in their…
High Doses of ADHD Meds Linked to Increased Psychosis Risk
Summary: Adults taking high doses of amphetamine-based medications for ADHD, such as Adderall, face a five-fold increased risk of developing psychosis or mania. The risk was highest for those taking…
Key Neurons Found to Predict Memory of People and Places
Summary: Researchers have identified specific brain cells, known as concept neurons and location cells, that predict whether we will successfully remember people and places. These neurons in the medial temporal…
How the Brain Turns Sensory Input Into Action
Summary: Neuroscientists have uncovered how sensory input is transformed into motor action across multiple brain regions in mice. The study shows that decision-making is a distributed process across the brain,…
Biopiracy? Are pharmaceutical companies stealing the genetic information in the developing world’s flora and fauna?
Low-income countries – where much of the world’s biodiversity remains – hope it could funnel billions into conserving the rainforests, lakes and oceans where such organisms live. Examples of what…
