Surprising Science

For the first time in 15 years, the number of deaths by suicide was below 30,000. While still high, credit is going to coalitions of citizens, activists, and experts working together with the government.

A new meta-study out of NYU, which asks whether parents can directly increase their children’s IQ, has found that not all accepted methods of boosting intelligence are effective.

Harvard medical researcher Ted Kaptchuk is finding that how placebos are administered plays a very important role in their ability to cause positive and negative physiological changes.

The tide is turning against the sophistication associated with having a nightcap before bed. Sleep specialists say any alcohol is likely to disrupt our rest and keep us from dreaming. 

The use of micron-sized lights as a delivery method is being researched by a consortium of UK universities hoping to make optical wireless communication a reality.

The FDA has given clearance to the first-ever autonomous robot for use in medical settings. With it, doctors can examine patients from a remote location.

“Being a submissive or dutiful patient doesn’t always pay off,” says Susan Gubar, professor emerita of English at Indiana University. “Sometimes it’s good to be bad.”

Bioethicist Daniel Callahan has made a case for the public derision of people who overeat in a style similar to how smokers have been sent outside, taxed more and are generally stigmatized. 

University of Wisconsin scientists have lifted a self-imposed moratorium on flu research, initially imposed for fear that information on flu mutations could fall into the wrong hands. 

Biology labs are now inexpensive and mobile enough to be set up in a garage. The kind of genetic tinkering occurring across the nation mirrors the experiments in computing a generation earlier. 

Peugoet Citroen plans to roll out subcompact cars using its Hybrid Air system by 2016, at a price designed to compete with hybrid leader Toyota.

German designers have created a touch-sensitive floor that can recognize individuals by their weight, track their movements, and display interactive video.

Just as some cars’ seats vibrate when another car is in the driver’s blind spot, the wheel uses GPS and sensors to alert drivers who may be experiencing temporary bright light blindness.

A professor in Japan has designed a “privacy visor” that uses near-infrared light to confuse cameras using facial recognition software.

In addition, if researchers want to experiment on chimps in the future, they will have much higher hurdles to clear, says a report released Tuesday.

All sightings by the observatory will go directly into the NASA Exoplanet Archive online, which means that the pros and the amateurs will get the data at the same time.

NASA surveys have located 90 percent of near-Earth asteroids and comets larger than 1 kilometer in diameter and projected their orbits at least a century ahead.

This month a California law went into effect allowing hands-free sending and receiving of texts and e-mails while driving. Writer Eric Jaffe cites studies showing little improvement in safety.

New research suggests that loneliness acts on the body similarly to physical stress by causing the inflammation of certain proteins associated with conditions like heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. 

A new consumer study concludes that the happiness derived from anticipating a new purchase is often greater than the emotional benefits received from the material good itself.

A new technique which asks patients to move their eyes rapidly while recalling past traumatic events successfully relieves symptoms of the disorder, but psychologists don’t yet know how.

The development of cooking technology has both benefited our health and caused surprising physiological changes, such as prompting the emergence of the overbite, which all humans now have.

Because such a wealth of personal information on nearly everyone is now available online, a person’s anonymous genetic information is enough to identify an individual’s full name.

By making adult skin cells behave like a specific class of stem cells called pluripotent cells, scientists are looking to establish the field of regenerative medicine and test drugs in new ways. 

The liner is made out of a special type of cardboard that mimics the layer of spongy cartilage separating the bird’s beak from its skull.

Although many are still in the development stage, expect to see more devices designed to electronically nag you into doing better.

Today’s announcement of NASA’s deal with Bigelow Aerospace for the addition of an inflatable module to the International Space Station hints at the company’s future goals.

Now that two states have legalized marijuana for recreational use, a coalition of farmers and activists are pushing harder for allowing its “good twin” to be grown commercially again.

According to a report published Tuesday, black carbon is second only to carbon dioxide in the list of top human-generated emissions contributing to climate change.

The New York Police Department announced today that it would begin distributing fake painkillers to pharmacies in one of several plans to stem a rising tide of prescription drug theft.