Nowadays there are quite a few compounds in clinical trials to assay their potential as breast cancer treatments. Some of them are the so called “PARP inhibitors”. These inhibitors work very well in tumours that have a deficiency in DNA repair because PARP proteins are involved in that process. However, a group of researchers working […]
The history of science is full of examples of researchers who arrived at the same discovery independently. Unfortunately, this still happens in this information age, thus technological deficiencies are not to blame for this lack of communication between different research communities. Odd as it may sound from outside, I hold that much of this isolation […]
Humanities & Social Sciences • Science • Technology • Weekly Selection
Three new primate species verified in Borneo A new small primate with a toxic bite and distinctive facial fur markings has been discovered in the jungles of Borneo. Two previously known subspecies of slow loris have also been accorded full species status. The slow loris (Nycticebus) is a primate genus closely related to the lemur […]
A study published last year in The Lancet showed that a daily dose of aspirin reduces the risk of dying from several types of cancer. According to the authors’ data, long-term daily intake reduces the probability of dying from solid tumours by more than 30%. These results are consistent with known effects of aspirin blocking […]
Where is the half of the ordinary matter in the universe not observed yet? Computer simulations of cosmological galaxy formation predict the existence of large intercluster filaments of hot and low-density gas, the so-called cosmic web. For the first time, ESA’s Planck satellite has observed one of such filaments in the merging cluster pair A399-A401 […]
Maybe you find interesting, as I certainly do, to read in the news that a new species has been discovered somewhere in the World. We recently witnessed the surprising and unusual finding of a new, beautiful monkey in Congo: the lesula (Cercopithecus lomamiensis), and you may also remember to read, even in the non-scientific press […]
The molecular base underlying neuronal processes is being constantly enriched by extended research focused on the investigation of mechanisms involving neurological pathologies. This broad field ranges from widely extended diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, to other less well-known, generally low-incidence neurodegenerative pathologies. However, one of the most challenging aims of modern neuroscience is the understanding […]
Causality is one of the oldest and most important concepts of Physics. Even recently, at the beginning of the XX century, with the invention of Special Relativity, this concept was in some sense rediscovered. As in a relativistic framework the events can change their temporal order a great effort was made in order to preserve […]
Most people consider forgetting things as a nuisance. Not remembering the name of someone we are supposed to remember or not knowing where we left the keys can be a little upsetting. But for some people, being unable to forget things can be really painful, and thus they try to voluntary eliminate their unpleasant memories […]
Scientists have always peaked into nature in order to mimic its most interesting features into industrial processes. This adaptation process is called biomimicry, and the most recurring example is the history of how the Swiss engineer George de Mestral invented fabric hook-and-loop fasteners (Velcro) in the 1950s, after he saw how burdock seeds got attached […]
