My picks from ScienceDaily

Honey Bees Can Tell The Difference Between Different Numbers At A Glance:

The remarkable honey bee can tell the difference between different numbers at a glance. A fresh, astonishing revelation about the 'numeracy' of insects has emerged from new research by an international team of scientists from The Vision Centre, in Australia.

Climate Change Largely Irreversible For Next 1,000 Years, NOAA Reports:

A new scientific study led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reaches a powerful conclusion about the climate change caused by future increases of carbon dioxide: to a large extent, there's no going back.

Infants Draw On Past To Interpret Present, Understand Other People's Behavior:

The old real estate maxim "location, location, location" also plays a role in how infants learn to understand the ambiguous actions and behavior of other people. University of Washington psychologists have learned that 10-month-old infants use their prior exposure and understanding of familiar actions by a person to unravel novel actions. However, this ability is limited by the location in which the new action is performed.

New Class Of Small RNAs Discovered: Function Defined:

Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) announced today the discovery of a new class of small RNAs. At the same time, they reported that their discovery suggests the presence of a strikingly novel biochemical pathway for RNA processing in which these and possibly other small RNAs are produced.

Contagious Products: For Good Luck, Stay Close To A Winner:

Is luck contagious? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research sheds light on why, at a casino, people seem to gather around machines and people on a winning streak.

Shaken Self-confidence? Certain Products And Activities Can Fix It:

Someone who has momentarily lost confidence in her intelligence is more likely to purchase a pen than a candy bar, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. The pen helps restore her belief in herself as an intelligent person.

Artificial Mechanism Analogous To Human Body Clock Created In Mammalian Cell Cultures For First Time:

Scientists at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) are the first to have succeeded in artificially creating mechanisms analogous to the human body clock in mammalian cell cultures - a first step towards therapeutic use.

Daily School Recess Improves Classroom Behavior:

School children who receive more recess behave better and are likely to learn more, according to a large study of third-graders conducted by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

Bears, Gazelles And Rats Inspire New Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Treatment:

Almost three percent of all Americans suffer from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). But when do you cross the line between a neurotic compulsion to check your email every five minutes and mental illness? According to new Tel Aviv University research, the best way to understand and effectively treat OCD is to look at ourselves as though we're animals in a zoo. "We've developed a program that allows us to videotape people that suffer from overt compulsions and compare their behavior to classic displays of neurotic or healthy behavior from the animal kingdom, observed in the wild or in captivity," says Prof. David Eilam from the Department of Zoology at Tel Aviv University.

Chemical Come-on Successfully Lures Lovesick Lampreys To Traps:

A synthetic chemical version of what male sea lampreys use to attract spawning females can lure them into traps and foil the mating process of the destructive invasive species, according to Michigan State University scientists.

Reptile Fossil Reignites Debate Over New Zealand Submergence:

The fossil of a lizard-like New Zealand reptile has been identified by a team of scientists from UCL (University College London), University of Adelaide, and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. The fossil, dating back 18 million years, has triggered fresh arguments over whether the continent was fully submerged some 25 million years ago.

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