(Note: the PI, or principal investigator, is the research group leader) Ask her if she ever had a moment of zen and Eugenia Chiappe won’t hesitate. It was during the winter of 2006, in […]
Humans of Science: Marina Fridman
Who are today’s scientists? Inspired by the project “Humans of New York”, Ar Magazine turns the spotlight on individual humans of science every month. Name: Marina Fridman Lab: Cortical Circuits lab Project: Characterization of the […]
Fruit fly hunger games: taste neurons in control
(Disponível em Português) Right at the tip of the fruit fly’s tongue sit two sets of taste neurons that have now been found to be crucial for the insect to develop a craving for […]
Body movements just need a “puff” of dopamine to get started
(Disponível em Português) A new study in mice suggests that a burst of dopamine levels at the beginning of a movement only, as opposed to all the time, is what gets us going. This […]
Long-standing debate: are we really getting less violent than our forebears?
(Disponível em Português) A well-known American psychologist claims that the modernization of western societies has driven down the rates of war casualties, implying that human violence has decreased. Not so fast… conclude two new […]
Life of PI: A neuroscientist with a passion for the mathematics of things
(Note: the PI, or principal investigator, is the research group leader) From chemistry to physics to neuroscience, from Spain to the United Kingdom, back to Spain again and then to Lisbon, Gonzalo de Polavieja’s […]
Starting to understand why drinking alcohol increases the risk of cancer
(Disponível em Português) Drinking alcohol has been correlated to various cancers. Now, scientists have pinpointed a possible causal link in the way cells react to alcohol. It is known, from many statistical studies, that […]
Scientists reveal the “Lego pieces” that form complex zebrafish movements
(Disponível em Português) Motor behavior could be formed from a range of continuous possible movements. But it could also be constituted by sequences of distinct, discrete movement types. New results suggest that the latter […]
A traveling bacteria may contribute to colorectal cancer metastasization
(Disponível em Português) Scientists have discovered that a microbe often abundant in colorectal cancer tumors is able to literally ride on tumors cancer cells and travel to distant parts of the body, possibly promoting […]
Has our species reached its biological and physical limits?
A study spanning more than 100 years of historical records of human capabilities and performance suggests that it has. The twentieth century was a period of significant increase in human lifespan, height and physical performance, […]