Olive Exports In Ancient Greece

Market economy is largely considered a modern phenomenon. But, says a study from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, an integrated market economy existing in ancient Greece. By analysing sediment cores taken from six…

Your Co-workers Shape Your Food Choices

Will you choose a doughnut or a salad? Depends on what your colleague is having! New research, from the journal ‘Nature Human Behaviour’, says that the foods people buy at a workplace cafeteria may not always be because of preferences. When…

Modern Humans & Neanderthals

A new study from the American Museum of Natural History is the first-ever to identify the genes for creativity in Homo sapiens that distinguish modern humans from chimpanzees and Neanderthals. The research identified 267 genes that are…

Is Your Microwave Safe?

Smaller and cheaper than ever before, microwaves are now a staple item in family kitchens. With the ability to cook meals in minutes, microwaves fit perfectly with today’s busy lifestyles. Microwave ovens energise the water molecules…

Help Seniors To Walk Faster

Being unable to walk quickly can be a problem, especially as people age. Engineers at Stanford University have tested how well a prototype exoskeleton system they have developed, which attaches around the shin and into a running shoe,…

Smoking Smooth Sumac

There were some non-tobacco plants in ancient pipes. Washington State University researchers have found that Rhus glabra, a plant commonly known as Smooth Sumac was smoked more than 1,400 years ago in what today is north America. Smoking…

Think Like Da Vinci

Education researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh argue that there is a compelling case for a drastic shake-up of the school curriculum, so that subjects are no longer taught independently of one another. Instead, the…

Deter Slugs In The Garden

Slugs in the garden are not just unpleasant and messy, they are potential killers. As well as leaving slimy trails, eating a huge amount of plants and vegetables, and in some cases devouring garden-friendly ladybirds and earthworms too, did…

Cavemen Liked To Recycle

Who’d have thought it? Archaeologists have concluded that our ancestors recycled stone artefacts for other uses as far back as the Upper Palaeolithic Age, 13,000 years ago. Stone tools found in Tarragona, Spain, suggest that sustainable…

Remote Work: Mothers Bear The Brunt

For many parents, the COVID-19 pandemic has made life's everyday juggling act, managing work, school, extracurricular, and household responsibilities, much, much harder. And according to a new study led by Penn sociologists, those extra…

Beeswax Cure For Toothache

Archaeologists have found a 6,500-year-old tooth in Slovenia that shows traces of a beeswax filling. This is the most ancient evidence of prehistoric dentistry in Europe, and was most likely used to reduce sensitivity from a tooth worn down…

Vitamin G: Wellness In Your Garden

Vitamin ‘G’ is vital for maintaining your physical and mental wellness. But it’s not available from any food source, or in tablet form. Vitamin ‘G’ stands for Gardening. Grounding – When you garden, you actually touch the earth’s…

A Big, Fat Confusion?

Fat is an important part of your diet, providing energy and building blocks to make brain cells, cell membranes, sex hormones and even vitamin D. But knowing which types of fat to select, and which to avoid can be confusing. As in all…

Leeches May Have Helped After All!

The mediaeval medical practice of using leeches to draw out bad blood was abandoned in the 19th Century. But researchers have found that regularly donating blood can reduce your risk of heart disease if you have high blood pressure, glucose…

Brain Disease, Men & Women

A report from the American Institute of Physics says that gender differences play roles in how patients respond to brain diseases. Men and women are impacted differently by brain diseases, like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.…

Native Americans & Cranberries

Native Americans used cranberries as a food, medicine, dye, and as a poultice to reduce wound infections. The berries were also added to meats to help preserve them during long sea voyages with the added advantage of preventing scurvy with…

Leisure Reading Improves Language Skills

A new study from the Concordia University shows that the more people read any kind of fiction, the better their language skills are likely to be. Researchers have found that people who enjoy reading fiction for leisure and who identify as a…

What Causes IBS?

Researchers have identified the mechanism that explains why some people experience abdominal pain when they eat certain foods. Gastroenterologists at KU Leuven University in Belgium have revealed a mechanism that connects certain foods with…

Nurturing Ayurveda

One part of the ancient Indian healing system, Ayurveda, deals specifically with food. The concept is not about healthy eating, but is based around balancing physiology by including six different tastes in every meal: Sweet, sour, salty,…

Leisure Reading Improves Language Skills

A new study from the Concordia University shows that the more people read any kind of fiction, the better their language skills are likely to be. Researchers have found that people who enjoy reading fiction for leisure and who identify as a…

Tips To Improve Your Garden Soil

Organic matter is the key to perfect garden soil. While you can't change the type of soil you have, adding organic matter makes your soil loamier. It loosens and aerates clay, improves the ability of sandy soil to hold water and nutrients,…

Whose Moon Is That?

Says a report from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has identified a problem with the growing interest in extractable resources on the moon - there aren't enough of them to go around. With no international policies or…

The Health Pizzazz Of Pizzas

Traditional style pizza is a relatively simple food, made with flour, yeast, water, salt, oil, tomato sauce and fresh cheese. The nutrition and ingredients of pizza can vary widely depending on the type. What you put on your pizza can…

Baby Dinosaurs Were Little Adults

Paleontologists from the University of Bonn have examined, for the first time, an almost complete skeleton of a juvenile Plateosaurus and discovered that it looked very similar to its parents even at a young age. That could have important…