News in Brief
- Psychology
Goalkeepers deceive themselves when facing penalty kicks
Soccer’s goalies fall victim to a logical fallacy during the sport’s most high-pressure situation, seeing trends where none exists.
- Neuroscience
Study linking narcolepsy to autoimmunity retracted
Data linking disorder to immune cells couldn’t be replicated, scientists say.
- Environment
Recycled water may flood urban parks with dangerous germs
Irrigating city parks with recycled water may flood the soil with drug-resistant microbes.
- Tech
With two robotic fingers, humans get a helping hand
Mechanical fingers grasp like the real thing.
- Environment
Wild monkeys near Fukushima have low blood cell counts
Primates near the ill-fated nuclear power plant may have been affected by radiation.
- Planetary Science
Comet ISON fell apart earlier than realized
Comet ISON disintegrated at least eight hours before it grazed the surface of the sun last fall, new observations show.
- Climate
Cell phone towers monitor African rains
Scientists used cell phone towers to monitor African rains, a method that could track weather in regions without robust meteorological infrastructure.
- Anthropology
Romanian cave holds some of the oldest human footprints
A group of Homo sapiens left footprints about 36,500 years ago, not 15,000 as scientists had thought.
- Physics
Diamonds under pressure impersonate exoplanet cores
Scientists use lasers at the National Ignition Facility to squeeze diamonds to the extreme pressures found inside massive exoplanets.
- Neuroscience
Heavy marijuana use may affect dopamine response
People who regularly smoke five joints a day had dampened reactions to the chemical messenger dopamine.
- Climate
Windblown dust may muck up regional climate predictions
Climate simulations don’t accurately portray the behavior of windblown dust, which may result in inaccurate regional forecasts.
- Health & Medicine
Two genes clear up psoriasis and eczema confusion
Psoriasis and eczema are often mistaken for each other, leading to mistreatment. Testing just two genes could eliminate this confusion.
