phys.org

Scientist, after decades of study, concludes: We don't have free will (phys.org)

Before epilepsy was understood to be a neurological condition, people believed it was caused by the moon, or by phlegm in the brain. They condemned seizures as evidence of witchcraft or demonic possession, and killed or castrated sufferers to prevent them from passing tainted blood to a new generation.

Ancient technology turns plant-based cheese into 'something we want to eat' (phys.org)

To produce plant-based cheeses that feel and taste like dairy cheese, scientists have their sights set on fermentation. In a new research result, University of Copenhagen scientists demonstrate the potential of fermentation for producing climate-friendly cheeses that people want to eat.

Some spiders can transfer mercury contamination to land animals, study shows (phys.org)

Sitting calmly in their webs, many spiders wait for prey to come to them. Arachnids along lakes and rivers eat aquatic insects, such as dragonflies. But, when these insects live in mercury-contaminated waterways, they can pass the metal along to the spiders that feed on them.

265-million-year-old fossil reveals oldest, largest predator in South America, long before the rise of dinosaurs (phys.org)

Dinosaurs have quite the reputation for being the largest, fiercest predators in life's history. Yet, 40 million years before dinosaurs ruled, Pampaphoneus biccai dominated South America as the biggest and most bloodthirsty meat eater of its time.

South Africa's great white sharks are changing locations—they need to be monitored for beach safety and conservation (phys.org)

South Africa is renowned for having one of the world's biggest populations of great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias). Substantial declines have been observed, however, in places where the sharks normally gather on the coast of the Western Cape province. Sharks congregate at these locations to feed, interact socially, or...

Curious and cryptic: New leaf insects discovered (phys.org)

An international research team including the University of Göttingen has described seven previously unknown species of leaf insects, also known as walking leaves. The insects belong to the stick and leaf insect order, which are known for their unusual appearance: they look confusingly similar to parts of plants such as twigs,...

Economic inequality cannot be explained by individual bad choices, study finds (phys.org)

A global study led by a researcher at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and published in the journal Scientific Reports finds that economic inequality on a social level cannot be explained by bad choices among the poor nor by good decisions among the rich. Poor decisions were the same across all income groups,...

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