Fanbois treat criticism of favorite brands as threat to self-image: "Fanbois" exist for every brand, but some seem to be more emotionally committed than others. A study appearing in the Journal of Consumer Psychology says that when people view their favorite brands as extensions of themselves, their self esteem suffers when there's bad news.
Bottlenecks in the brain limit our ability to multitask : New research shows that certain areas in our brain serve as bottlenecks that can limit very different cognitive processes.
Now you see it, now you don't—dark matter detection wars: Physics fisticuffs at the forefront of finding fragments of fiendishly forbidding phenomenon. Dark matter, apparently, remains hard to find; detecting it has turned into a soap opera written by Dr. Suess.
Improved dating process upsets timeline of Moon formation: It's pretty well established that the Moon formed from material ejected after a Mars-sized body collided with the Earth, but the timeline of how the moon came together after that impact is an area of active research.
Radioactive sulfur in San Diego hints at scale of Fukushima leak : A small spike in radioactivity detected in San Diego lets researchers estimate the scale of the events at Fukushima.
Hang on, we didn't know how molecules conduct electricity?: Understanding why some individual molecules conduct has been something of a mystery. A recent Physical Review Letter explains why. In this case, noise is good.
Little fungi, lots of time, and a mass extinction: The Permian-Trassic extinction, known as the Great Dying, saw the disappearance of about 96 percent of all ocean species. A couple recent papers in the journal Geology have brought new information to our understanding of this event.
How do you catch atoms? In very tiny traps: Scientists use the strongly confining fields of plasmons to catch atoms in precise, tiny traps.
Climate change causing species to change habitat faster than expected: Throughout Europe and North America, species are heading northwards and uphill as the climate in their regular habitat warms.
Bats navigate with visual map, additional unknown cues: Experiments with bats show that they can find their way by locating visual landmarks on an internal map, and have a good sense of direction even when they can't see anything familiar.