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Although modern prosthetic devices are more lifelike and easier for amputees to control than ever before, they still lack a sense of touch. Patients depend on visual feedback to operate their prostheses – they know that they’ve touched an object when they see their prosthetic hand hitting it. Without sensation, patients cannot accurately judge the force of their grip or perceive temperature and texture. Todd Kuiken, a professor at Northwestern University and director of the Neural Engineering Center for Artificial Limbs at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, has led the development of a new technique known as targeted reinnervation, which can help amputees control motorized prosthetic arms....

In selecting Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina to serve as his next chief of staff, President Trump is bringing into the White House a Republican lawmaker who has raised concerns about climate change and expressed a desire to do something about it. The approach marks a significant departure from that of the job’s outgoing occupant, Mick Mulvaney, who once called government funding of climate science a “waste of your money....

Getting a 3D view Previous research I conducted on body shape perception found that people believed that a 3D body scan was an accurate depiction of their real body. That belief inspired me to further explore people’s feelings about seeing their bodies in 3D. Seeing your body in 3D is, at the moment, rare and unusual: Even mirrors and photos show only two-dimensional views. If retail stores are going to let more people see their own bodies in 3D, I reasoned, there may be wider effects on society....

Have you seen the show How I Met Your Mother? It’s about a bunch of flawed but lovable New Yorkers trying to find (or hang onto) love as they go through life’s changes, which range from silly to momentous. It’s a funny, feel-good, and sometimes poignant sitcom. But what I like most about it is that it’s a perfect showcase of human attachment styles. If you don’t know what attachment styles are, or haven’t ever seen the show, don’t worry....

With rivers breaking their banks, flash flooding and glacial lakes bursting, Pakistan is experiencing its worst floods this century. At least one-third of the country is under water. Scientists say several factors have contributed to the extreme event, which has displaced some 33 million people and killed more than 1,200. Researchers say the catastrophe probably started with phenomenal heatwaves. In April and May, temperatures reached above 40 °C for prolonged periods in many places....

The pirate look is a time-honored way to fix children’s “lazy eye”: the patch over the good eye forces the weak one to work, thereby preventing its deterioration. Playing video games helps, too. The neural cells corresponding to both eyes then learn to fire in synchrony so that the brain wires itself for the stereo vision required for depth perception. Left untreated past a critical age, lazy eye, or amblyopia, can result in permanently impaired vision....

Three researchers won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for their discovery of methods to “click” molecular building blocks together, forming complex molecules that can be used to develop drugs or craft entirely new materials. Morten Meldal of the University of Copenhagen and K. Barry Sharpless of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., won for their development, around the turn of the 21st century, of “click chemistry”—a way to link two molecules together in a simple reaction that creates larger, more complicated forms of molecules with myriad capabilities....

Once upon a time an ethicist had a brilliant idea for a prison. Today we all live in it. Starting in 1785, English philosopher Jeremy Bentham spent decades (and much of his own fortune) advocating for the construction of a facility he called the Panopticon—the “all-seeing place.” Inside its walls, convicted prisoners would be exposed to perpetual view from a central tower by an unseen jailer, who could supervise their behavior, health and menial labor....

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown told visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday that he hoped Israeli water technology could help his state deal with a devastating drought. Netanyahu, on a visit to Silicon Valley, and Brown signed a memorandum of understanding for research and development cooperation in various technological fields, including water conservation. “Israel has demonstrated how efficient a country can be, and there is a great opportunity for collaboration,” Brown said....

Lately, it has started to feel as if outrage is everywhere. On both sides of the political aisle, people have taken to social media—and to the streets—to express their fury over perceived injustices. The religious right demands a boycott against a popular coffee chain for removing religious iconography from their holiday cups; meanwhile, the left rallies marches in protest against police brutality against young Black men. In the midst of all this anger, both liberal and conservative pundits have started raising the question: has outrage drowned out civil dialogue in America?...

“All warfare is based on deception.” —Sun Tzu, circa sixth century B.C. Los Angeles is an illusory place. From the magic of Hollywood to the city’s surreal atmospheric light, it’s easy to feel like physical reality only sometimes coincides with your perceptions. For that reason, L.A. was the perfect backdrop for a special workshop we attended a few years ago, organized by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop illusions that might help the military—itself a surreal topic....

Dear EarthTalk: What is the current status of whales? How effective is the International Whaling Commission and which countries are involved in illegal whaling? —Jonathan Wingate, Yulee, Fla. Some larger whale species have been recovering since the dark days before the whaling industry was regulated, but the majority of cetaceans—that is, the distinct order of marine mammals consisting of whales, dolphins and porpoises—are in decline, with some likely headed for extinction in the near term....

At the southernmost place on Earth, researchers look forward to summer even more than most people do. That is when mammoth icebreakers like the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star arrive in Antarctica’s McMurdo Sound as part of Operation Deep Freeze to open up the shipping lanes needed to resupply the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station and other facilities on Ross Island. When the Polar Star navigated into the sound last January it was carrying something never before used in the 61-year history of the Deep Freeze missions: drone aircraft....

In February, Nobel laureate David Baltimore, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), could scarcely have been more depressing. “We have been trying to make an HIV vaccine since the day HIV was discovered. In 1984 we were told that as the virus had been found, a vaccine should be just around the corner,” he reminded an audience at the annual AAAS meeting in Boston. “Every year since then, we have been saying it is at least 10 years away....

For the 50 million individuals worldwide ailing from Alzheimer’s disease, the announcements by pharmaceutical giants earlier this year that they will end research on therapeutics were devastating. The news is even more devastating considering projections that 100 million more people will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease across the globe by 2050, all potentially without a medical means to better their quality of life. As it happens, though, the pursuit of a therapeutic has been given a lifeline....

Researchers are exploring what may be the first promising lead in months in the search for the wreckage of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. Sensitive microphones on the ocean floor off Australia picked up a distinctive signal at about the time that the Boeing 777 aeroplane is believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean. The findings, announced by Australian scientists last week, offer a rough location for the source of the sound and are being followed up by search authorities....

Continuing to pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere will trigger “severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people, species and 27 ecosystems,” concludes a landmark draft U.N. science report expected to be approved this week. Adapting to climate change, according to a final draft obtained by ClimateWire, can reduce some risks. But, it argues, “there are limits to its effectiveness, particularly if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced.” In order to keep global temperatures from rising above 2 degrees Celsius beyond preindustrial levels—the point at which experts predict the planet will experience the irreversible effect of climate change—net global emissions must plummet 40 to 70 percent by 2050, hitting zero by the end of the century....

Stumped by a crossword puzzle? Try taking a break to watch a funny TV show. Recent research shows that people in a lighthearted mood more often have eureka moments of sudden inspiration. Karuna Subramaniam, then at Northwestern University, and her colleagues found that boosting the mood of volunteers increased their likelihood of having an aha! moment that helped solve a word associa­­tion puzzle. Those who watched a Robin Williams comedy special did measurably better at the task using insight than those who watched a quantum electronics talk or a scary movie....

One of the last things a pedestrian wants to see is a charging bull. Yet every July thousands of people voluntarily jam the narrow streets of Pamplona, Spain, to run alongside six agitated fighting bulls. Although the entire course is just half a mile, most runners do not complete it because of the dense crowd and the animals’ breakneck speed. These blistering bovines cover nearly 20 feet per second on average....

Key concepts Physics Light Reflection Angles Introduction Light is fascinating! It can look like a wave or a particle; it can be red, blue or any color of the rainbow; you can even mix all the colors together to get white! It travels in straight lines and still appears to bend around objects. It can travel through air but it does not need it. Unlike sound, light can travel from distant stars through a vacuum and reach us millions of years later or it can be sent through fiber-optic cables and circle the world in less than a second!...