Mild stress could help burn fat and lose weight. If you’re the type of person who gets anxious about going to the gym, you may be already partway to your weight-loss goal. New research shows that mild psychological stress can activate calorie-burning brown fat, and may even help you lose weight. Read more in Inside Science.
Inside Science
Floral Smells Stop Stinging Bees
Appetizing scents can override alarm signals in honeybees. As an amateur beekeeper, I’m resigned to getting more than my fair share of painful stings when harvesting honey, or even cutting the grass too close to the hive. But new research published today in Nature Communications shows that there may be a way to distract angry […]
New Broom Technology Sweeps Through Curling World
Reversing a typical nylon curling brush’s fabric could dramatically change the sport. Even though the ice is still the same, and most of the 42-pound stones sent down the ice in each contest still come from the Scottish island of Ailsa Craig, there’s a technological controversy brewing in the world of curling. Top players are […]
Slippery Coating Makes Snake Bellies Slither
Fatty layer covering snakeskin protects animal’s underside against scrapes and wear. Snakes can slither smoothly over almost any surface, from jungle branches to desert sands, without damaging their skin – an ability that has fascinated researchers. “How can snakes move across very harsh and abrasive environments and still have belly skin that is shiny and […]
Fitbit for Cows
Wearable tech could help cowboys spot sick animals sooner. Wearable fitness monitors are all the rage among humans right now, but they are also spreading among farm animals. Researchers hope the devices can help keep herds of beef cows healthy. Karin Orsel, a veterinary epidemiologist at the University of Calgary in Canada is testing how […]
How Gamblers Try – And Fail – To Beat The System
Human tendency to seek patterns leads to misperception of randomness. Habitual gamblers are more likely to believe they see patterns in random sequences of events, and to act on that belief, than the general population, according to new research. Wolfgang Gaissmaier, a psychologist at the University of Konstanz in Germany, and his colleagues studied how […]
Sewage Bacteria Reveal Cities’ Obesity Rates
Urban ‘microbiome’ can offer glimpses into disease trends. Sampling the waste in a city’s sewage system can be a good way to study the microbes that live in the population’s guts – and could even offer a way to monitor public health issues such as obesity, according to new research. The community of microbes that […]
Can Winter De-Icers Go Completely Green?
Environmentally friendly additives to road salt may still have tradeoffs. Every year, as winter closes in, transportation authorities prepare to deploy their vast stockpiles of salt and sand to keep the roads and highways safe and ice-free for drivers. In the United States, roughly 18 million metric tons of road salt are spread on the […]
Development Of Airplanes Is Like Biological Evolution, Engineer Says
Airplanes and birds may have followed similar pattern to increase efficiency. The development of passenger aircraft over the past century mirrors the evolution of flying animals, and shows that evolution is not just a biological phenomenon, according to a paper published today in the Journal of Applied Physics. Adrian Bejan, a mechanical engineer at Duke University […]
Infants May Benefit From Advanced Cochlear Implants
Young children need more detailed sound information, new study finds. Cochlear implants are powerful tools for people with hearing loss. Using electrodes implanted in the ear that transmit sound directly to the brain, they can give even the profoundly deaf a sense of sound. But their success often depends on how early the implants are […]