Recent Discoveries and Breakthroughs

Curious to find out about recent discoveries and breakthroughs in health & medicine, science & space, technology, our environment and our living world? Interested in the latest research findings? Please visit us often to get the most interesting research news and updates.

Some of our more popular articles include:

10 Ig Nobel Prizes For 2012: Recognition Of Funny, Obscure Research

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New Products From The 2013 Consumer Electronics Show

Crowd at 2010 Consumer Electronics Show. Photo by NativeForeigner, flickr.

by Cindi Brown

The 2013 Consumer Electronics Show is underway in Las Vegas, Nevada this week, and innovators of all stripes are showcasing a variety of new wares, from massive designs to pocket-sized gadgets. Some of these new products will come to revolutionize the way we live and some will just fade away. Here are videos of a few promising new items from the show.

Even Short Interruptions Have Negative Effects On Performance

by T Goodman

If your job is task oriented, demanding your concentration, you had better turn off your cell phones, pagers, email, and buzzers, and hang a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on your locked door. Why? Even a 3-second interruption in your work can double your chances of making an error.

Eat And Flush: New Stomach Pump Means No More Dieting For Some

by Myra Per-Lee

Under the heading 'Be careful what you wish for,' the inventor of the take-a-walk-on-wheels motorized Segway, Dean Kamen, has applied for a patent for a pump that removes a portion of the food you've just eaten from your stomach. Partners in this patent are members of a company called Aspire Bariatrics. Here's a brief description of how the stomach sucker works....

Bridgitte Bardot Will Repatriate To Russia If French Kill 2 Elephants With TB

by Lady Bee

.... Iconic French sex symbol, actress Brigitte Bardot, threatens to follow in Gerard Depardieu's footsteps if two 42-year-old circus elephants diagnosed with tuberculosis are euthanized.

Christmas Tree Needles Have Natural Antibacterial Properties

by T Goodman

Scientists often struggle to come up with artificial means to accomplish medical goals, when all the while nature has the answer. Such an answer has been found in the Douglas Fir, Pseudotsuga menzietii, which not only happens to form an ideal shape for a Christmas tree, but also holds a very important biological agent in its needles - a natural antimicrobial.

Calling All Inventors! Popular Science Wants Your World-Changing Inventions For 2013 Awards

iOptik, winner of PopSci's 2012 Inventor Awards

by Myra Per-Lee

You'd best hurry. You don't have much time to get your world-changing invention to Popular Science reviewers for the 2013 'Garage' Invention Awards....

Medical Study Says: If You Can't Run, Shake!

by T Goodman

.... For many who are obese, health problems may keep them from achieving their goals through diet and exercise regimens. But new excercise research shows that 'shaking' may improve the immune systems of obese individuals until they can undertake more strenuous exercise.

New Year Resolutions Traced Back To Medieval Times

by Myra Per-Lee

Though our ancestors back in the 1300's probably didn't resolve to turn their abs into 6-packs at the beginning of every new year, new research indicates that they did make wishes and predictions at the new year, a tradition believed to have evolved into today's resolutions.

Panasonic Emergency Flashlight Runs On Batteries Of Any Size

by Steve Levenstein

With the BF-BM10 mix & match battery-powered emergency flashlight, Japan's Panasonic has taken an innovative approach to an all-too-common problem: having exactly the right size and number of batteries on hand to power your flashlight. Got one of these and one of those? Pop 'em in the “Any Battery Light” and let it shine!

Special MRI Correctly Diagnoses Alzheimer's Without Spinal Tap

by T Goodman

Nothing induces quite as much fear in a patient as the words 'spinal tap' or 'lumbar puncture,' a test used to resolve diagnosis in many neurological diseases. One disease that can be absolutely diagnosed by lumbar puncture is Alzheimer's disease, and the test is currently used to distinguish it from other neurological diseases, such as Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD), that commonly appear with consequent dementia. But a new MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) model that distinguishes the two diseases may prove critical to the success of future focused treatment...

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