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Computational neuroscientists, with skills developed in the physical sciences, are becoming integrated into the effort to solve the mysteries of the brain, says Hemai Parthasarathy.
Many Japanese researchers are concerned that they don't compete on a level playing field when it comes to international science. Language and cultural barriers may be partly to blame. But the perception is more forbidding than the reality.
“When you are addicted, there is no euphoria when you shoot up,” explains Christian. “You only want heroin. Food and sex are not interesting. You are capable of being aroused, but you have no desire.” Can neuroscientists explain why addicts feel this way? Alison Abbott investigates.
Japan wants to reform its university system, in part to match the competitive and entrepreneurial spirit of US academia. That won't be easy, says David Cyranoski.
A cut into the soul as a result of a horrifying experience can persist as a crippling disease with its core conceptualized as post-traumatic stress disorder.
The waggling dance of honeybees conveys navigational information about where food is to be found. But it seems that the information is valuable only in certain circumstances.
Elements heavier than helium are synthesized in stars. But could there be stars, created soon after the Big Bang, that contain almost no heavy elements? The discovery of such a star gives new clues to this early time.
Materials may be strong or ductile, but rarely both at once. The processing of copper into a nanostructure possessing different-sized grains produces a material that retains its high strength and ductility under deformation.
Separating the details of surface structure from those of the bulk material is difficult. An X-ray-based technique reveals clearer, and contrasting, pictures of the atomic surface structure of water and methanol.
These are interesting times for those who study RNA. The latest curious discovery is that some messenger RNAs have sequences that sense small molecules directly, so controlling translation of the RNA into protein.
New York City has kept detailed records of its rubbish for over a century. The data reveal the changing nature of waste products as technology evolves.
One type of the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans feeds alone, another in aggregates. The neurobiological underpinnings of these behaviours are now being revealed at the molecular level.
