Discovery News takes another look at Iron Age Scotland and finds something more than pretty pictures:

The ancestors of modern Scottish people left behind mysterious, carved stones that new research has just determined contain the written language of the Picts, an Iron Age society that existed in Scotland from 300 to 843.

The highly stylized rock engravings, found on what are [...]

The Corante blog is taking a second look at brain research that could turn Alzheimer’s thinking on its head:

A recent paper in PLoS One makes the case that beta-amyloid, the protein that has been fingered for decades as a major player in Alzheimer’s disease, is actually part of the body’s antimicrobial defenses.

…

When this latest team checked [...]

Click to embiggen.

Originally published in 1612 in published in Istoria e Dimostrazioni Intorno Alle Macchie Solari e Loro Accidenti Rome.

found via Woolgathersome.

SONG: “The Stick That Never Strikes the Snare” (To download: double right-click & “Save As”)

ARTIST: grant.

SOURCE: “Scientists supersize quantum mechanics,” Nature , 17 March 2010, as used in the post “Quantum drum beats without beating.”

ABSTRACT: So, they made a thing you can see with your naked eye that moves and [...]

Science Daily reveals the health-boosting chemicals found in maple syrup:

University of Rhode Island researcher Navindra Seeram, who specializes in medicinal plant research, has found more than 20 compounds in maple syrup from Canada that have been linked to human health, 13 of which are newly discovered in maple syrup. In addition, eight of the compounds have been [...]

PhysOrg divides bad dreams between the sleeping sexes:

The study, carried out by Dr Michael Schredl of the International Association for the Study of Dreams, involved over 2,000 people, who were asked to report on their bad dreams.

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The study found nightmares about being fired from a job, or about violence were more common in men, while for women [...]

Very close to making the deadline this month BUT NO CIGAR.

I am, however, a grandfather now. So there’s that.

A new song will be forthcoming, as will a penitential cover in short order.

Please stand by.

Princeton University researchers have found the bitter truth about HFCS:

The first study showed that male rats given water sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup in addition to a standard diet of rat chow gained much more weight than male rats that received water sweetened with table sugar, or sucrose, in conjunction with the standard diet. The concentration of sugar [...]

“Trophic level” is a measure of how far up the food chain an animal is. It’s generally used in ecological studies to show how much impact a predator has on its habitat – sharks have high trophic levels, because they eat lots of smaller fish. New Scientist is using trophic levels in a different way – to get ecological [...]