All Stories by Bethany Brookshire
- Neuroscience
Study of psychiatric disorders is difficult in man and mouse
Studying human psychiatric disorders in animals presents a challenge. A new study highlights one of the ways scientists can study human mutations by slipping them into mice.
- Science & Society
Is NIH policy the best way to sex equality in studies?
A new NIH policy will require females to be studied alongside males in preclinical studies. The mandate comes with both opportunities and challenges, and little funding.
- Animals
A stressful youth makes for a devoted finch dad
Stress is generally thought to be a bad thing. But a new study shows that under certain conditions, a stressful childhood could make a zebra finch a better father.
- Neuroscience
Melatonin and the watery beginnings of sleep
The tiny zooplankton Platynereis dumerilii use melatonin just as much as we do, suggesting that the origins of sleeplike behavior may lie under the sea.
- Ecosystems
Help scientists find floating forests of kelp
By looking for signs of kelp in satellite images, citizen scientists can help researchers keep track of the world’s seaweed forests.
- Animals
Lacking ice, huge walrus herd congregates on Alaska shore
A large group of walruses has hauled out on the beach near Point Lay, Alaska. The animals have been forced onto shore due to a lack of sea ice in the region.
- Health & Medicine
Still waiting on a cure for diabetes
Diabetes diagnoses have skyrocketed in the past 50 years. While there are now better medications and options for control, there is still only hope of a cure.
- Health & Medicine
The sour side of artificial sweeteners
A new study found that saccharin alters the gut microbiome of mice and produces insulin resistance, but it’s not the first to show the sour side of diet drinks.
- Psychology
Balancing the excitation and inhibition tightrope in depression
A new study looks at how a balance of positive and negative inputs in the lateral habenula might relate to disappointment and depression.
- Science & Society
Banana peel slipperiness wins IgNobel prize in physics
Cartoons taught us that banana peels make for a slick trip to the floor, but scientists decided to find out just how slippery they could be.
- Psychology
Training the overweight brain to abstain
A new study shows that brain changes are associated with a weight-loss behavioral intervention, but it may be a while before we can train our brains to prefer peppers over pork chops.
- Psychology
In PTSD, a good night’s sleep means feeling safe
Studies of PTSD in rats have usually focused on fear and trauma. But a new study in humans shows that learning about safety may be important as well.
