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Neuroscientists have long sought to explain how the brain correctly recognizes a stimulus despite the stimulus appearing under different circumstances with widely variable external factors. For example, with regard to olfactory stimuli, humans can…

Studies have shown that all classes of vertebrates—and even some invertebrate species—have the cognitive ability to discriminate among different quantities. For example, many kinds of studied animals can distinguish specific numbers of objects in…

Food packaging prevents contamination and extends the shelf-life of food products, making food safe and available to the public. Common food-packaging materials include metals, glass, paper, and plastics. Of these, metals, glass, and recyclable…

Food waste occurs at all levels of the supply chain and beyond, from farm to table, for reasons ranging from spoilage to over-buying. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service defines food waste as “the edible amount of…

Pasta comes in various sizes and shapes, ranging from long and flat (such as linguine and spaghetti) to short types in the shape of shells (conchiglie), corkscrews (fusilli), and many others. Shaped pastas contain a larger volume of air, resulting…

In the future, will global demand for coffee outstrip supply? The International Coffee Organization thinks so, based on droughts in Central America, crop-destroying freezing weather in Brazil, and global climate change. In general, coffee is a very…

A new mathematical approach called emulation dramatically decreases the amount of time necessary to solve equations describing key properties of atomic nuclei. The approach will help physicists run simulations far more quickly—and without the need…

Using an artificial intelligence technique known as deep learning and high-resolution remote sensing, scientists have counted and mapped the location of trees in 11,000 satellite images covering more than 1.3 million square kilometers (500,000…

Sea-level rise is caused by adding mass (water) and heat to the ocean. The Antarctic ice sheet represents a potentially large source of water. Knowing the speed and direction (velocity) at which the Antarctic ice sheet is flowing to the ocean is…

Pesticides—including insecticides and herbicides—are chemical products used to control, reduce, or eliminate organisms that are harmful to cultivated plants. However, the use of pesticides on plants that provide foods for human consumption is often…

The World Health Organization (WHO) is planning to recognize gaming disorder as a mental health disease in 2018. The 11th revision of the WHO's International Classification of Diseases (ICD), which is a major worldwide reference for epidemiological,…

Mathematics is often referred to as the language of nature. A new study further makes this case by demonstrating that the distribution of prime numbers bears a striking similarity to the positions of atoms in materials known as quasicrystals. The…

In early 2018, NASA announced that it had demonstrated a new type of celestial navigation for the first time. Called XNAV, for x-ray pulsar-based navigation, it relies on beams of radiation from pulsars—the cinders of exploded, massive stars. As…

To better understand the nutritional effects (health benefits), chemical composition, growing conditions, and shelf life of microgreens, a team of researchers reviewed the science behind them in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry…

On October 9, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the use of seven synthetic food flavoring additives: benzophenone, ethyl acrylate, eugenyl methyl ether, myrcene, pulegone, pyridine, and styrene. The use of benzophenone as a…

Scientists from IBM and Sony Storage Media Solutions Corporation have jointly developed a magnetic storage tape with 20 times the storage capacity (areal density) of currently available tape. The record-setting tape, reported in IEEE Transactions on…

The continuing development of quantum computing, a potentially revolutionary form of number-crunching, has reached a new milestone. Earlier this month, IBM announced the building of a prototype 50-qubit processor for the company’s quantum cloud…

Visitors to websites may think their visits are anonymous, but digital techniques can reveal their identities to site operators and track their movements online more revealingly than they realize. Web fingerprinting, also known as device…

A magnitude 5.1 nuclear test was detected 376 km (234 mi) NE of Pyongyang, North Korea (DPRK) on January 6, 2015 at 10:30 a.m. local time (01:30 UTC), according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The event was picked up at seismic stations around…

Cafestol, C20H28O3, is a compound, specifically a diterpene alcohol, found in coffee beans. It is extracted during the coffee-brewing process and may be present in coffee beverages, depending on the preparation method. Consumption of cafestol in…

In humans, taste buds on the tongue have sensory receptors that detect the qualities of water-soluble chemicals in food and convert (or transduce) those stimuli to electrical signals. Nerves then carry the signals to the brain, which processes them…

The olive tree (Olea europaea) is an ancient cultivated plant that was originally domesticated by early civilizations in the eastern Mediterranean regions. Today, the major olive-producing countries are Spain, Italy, Greece, and Turkey, which…

One of the most remarkable features of the sea (marine) turtles that inhabit the tropical and subtropical waters of the world is their homing ability. Throughout the year, sea turtles swim huge distances, often more than 1600 kilometers (1000…

The flow of pedestrians through public spaces and thoroughfares is frequently a concern of architects, engineers, and planners, as well as building owners and operation managers, who may want to identify potential traffic bottlenecks, reduce…

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in collaboration with industry partners Stratasys and Autodesk, have used 3D printing technology to create objects that can self-assemble into new structures when desired. The process…

Papaya (Carica papaya) is a major fruit crop cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions. The treelike, herbaceous papaya plant grows quickly and typically reaches a height of 6–9 meters (20–30 feet). The commercially important fruits cluster…

Various studies over the years have suggested that naturally occurring compounds in chocolate called flavanols can confer some health benefits, such as lowering blood pressure. Two reports of research emerging in 2014 may help to explain why. Cacao…