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Peering deep into the sun's churning plasma, solar physicists have discovered a way to forecast the emergence of sunspots before they reach the solar surface.

At the SciFoo conference last weekend, brain scientist and illusionmeister Steve Macknik elevated a basic principle of energy conservation--turn off the lights when you don’t need them--to a whole new level. [More]

By Geoff Brumfiel of Nature magazine Today IBM unveiled a new "cognitive computing" microchip that, according to the company, emulates some of the brain's abilities. [More]

By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. emissions of the main greenhouse gas rebounded nearly 4 percent last year as factories ran harder while the economy recovered and as consumers boost air conditioning during the hot summer, the government said on Thursday

Top 10 Most Polluted Air [More]

At last, the field of genomics has something to offer Cheech and Chong. DNA sequencing hit a new high last night with the midnight release of the Cannabis sativa genome.

Robots often serve as first responders during mine collapses. A robot can fit into tight spaces, it’s not slowed by noxious fumes and it's expendable if there's another cave-in

By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fast-melting Arctic sea ice appears to be pushing walruses to haul themselves out onto land, and many are moving around the area where oil leases have been sold, the U.S. Geological Survey reports. [More]

At their most fundamental level, brains are made up of neurons. [More]

Economic opportunity has always been a big part of the allure of urban life , yet most cities are at least pockmarked by areas of extreme poverty . Often the scope of the problem eludes government agencies as well as the impoverished communities themselves. Poverty atlases that map the extent of privation have existed for decades as a means to alert urban leaders to areas lacking basic services, such as water, electricity and sanitation

In the media this week were reports (see here and here and here) that the brain-eating amoeba Naeglaria fowleri has killed three people this summer, as it does in a typical year. [More]

When a healthy rat smells a cat, it flees. But rats infected with the Toxoplasma brain parasite actually follow cat odors, often presumably to their doom, red in tooth and claw.

The buzz out of Beijing is that China's Tiangong 1 space lab may fly sooner than expected, perhaps soaring into space by this month's end. That might be the case, according to China space watcher Gregory Kulacki, a senior analyst and China Project manager at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The Tiangong 1 module ("Heavenly Palace 1" in Chinese) is not China's actual space station--nor will it be a part of the planned Chinese space station, he said.

At their extremes, both autism and schizophrenia are debilitating disorders. [More]

By Jo Marchant of Nature magazine Hyenas can count up to three. [More]