Reindeer multitask by chewing cud and sleeping at the same time

In this busy holiday season, many of us multitask. Arctic reindeer are no exception.  Reindeer can eat and sleep at the same time, a new study suggests. This timesaving strategy,…

The Endangered Species Act is turning 50. Has it succeeded?

While growing up in California in the 1980s, Winifred Frick never saw a condor in the wild. The population of North America’s largest bird, Gymnogyps californianus, had dwindled to nearly…

Women’s Tears Chemical Diminish Male Aggression

Summary: A new study reveals that women’s tears contain chemicals that significantly reduce aggression in men. The study, which builds on known effects in rodents, employed a two-person game designed…

Binaural Beats Boost Language Skills

Summary: Researchers conducted a new study exploring the effects of binaural beats (BB) on language comprehension. This study used electroencephalography (EEG) to examine how BB stimulation at beta and gamma…

Sleep Deprivation’s Toll on Emotions

Summary: Researchers examined over fifty years of research to highlight the profound impact of sleep loss on emotional well-being. Analyzing data from 154 studies with 5,715 participants, the research team…

50 years ago, the U.S. Navy enlisted sea lions and other marine mammals

Excerpt from the December 22, 1973 issue of Science News

Spinal Stimulation Shows Promise As Depression Treatment

Summary: Researchers conducted a pilot clinical trial showing that spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a feasible and well-tolerated method with potential to treat major depressive disorder. The trial involved 20…

These are our favorite animal stories of 2023

From birds repurposing antiavian architecture to jellyfish that can learn, here are dispatches from the animal kingdom that we went wild for in 2023. Intelligent jellies No brain? No problem.…

Gene Clusters Reveal Brain Link to Anxiety Disorders

Summary: Researchers made a significant breakthrough in understanding the genetic basis of anxiety disorders (ADs), which affect over 280 million people globally. By analyzing the spatiotemporal transcriptomic data of AD-associated…

Infant Brain Study Links Enlarged Brain Spaces to Autism Risk

Summary: Researchers uncovered a potential early marker for autism in infants: abnormally enlarged perivascular spaces (PVS) in the brain. The study found that infants with enlarged PVS had a 2.2…