Archaeologists found a surprise inside the severed skull of a man who lived in Britain before the Romans came. As PhysOrg reports, it had Britain’s oldest pickled brain inside:

The old brain is unlikely to yield new neurological insights because human brains aren’t thought to have changed much over the past 2,000 years, according to Chris Gosden, a professor of [...]

Science Daily reveals the role the plucky, pesky herpes virus plays in the dreadful progress of Alzheimer’s disease – and how a cold sore cure might also beat back brain damage:

Professor Ruth Itzhaki and her team at the University’s Faculty of Life Sciences have investigated the role of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) in AD, publishing their very [...]

Yes, maybe these simple farm folk *do* have better hearts than the rest of us. That’s what the BBC seems to be saying about new research that finds the Amish are genetically protected from heart disease:

They found a mutation in the APOC3 gene, which encodes a protein – apoC-III – that inhibits the breakdown of triglycerides.

As part of [...]

Some organic geometry from The New Students Reference Work (1914), edited by Chandler B. Beach, associate editor Frank Morton McMurry.

Scanned by Wikimedia Commons user LA2.

Antarctica, LiveScience reveals, isn’t the wasteland it appears. In fact, it has more species than the Galapagos Islands:

A team of 23 scientists from five research institutes, including team members from the British Antarctic Survey, undertook the first comprehensive inventory of sea and land animals around the South Orkney Islands, near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. …

The inventory turned [...]

Science News reports on new findings that our intelligent neighbors to the sea have finally been spotted using tools:

These dolphins dive to the bottom of deep channels and poke their sponge-covered beaks into the sandy ocean floor to flush out small fish that dwell there, says a team led by biologist Janet Mann of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. [...]

RedOrbit.com has a comprehensive overview (and yes, this is a summary of an overview) of research proving male organisms around the world are becoming feminized:

The research shows that a host of common chemicals is feminizing males of every class of vertebrate animals, from fish to mammals, including people.

On Wednesday, Britain will lead opposition to proposed new European controls on [...]

No, they don’t literally suck the fat from your waistline, but Scienceblog.com does show how roundworms are beating the battle of the bulge:

A previously unknown mutation discovered in a common roundworm holds the promise of new treatments for obesity in humans, McGill University researchers say. Their study was published Dec. 3 in the journal Nature, and was funded [...]

Biology News Net had a study not so long ago into how our brains recognize music. Researchers at University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences found that perfect pitch isn’t so unusual, even in non-musicians:

“Tests for perfect pitch have always demanded that subjects already have some musical training or at least familiarity [...]