Filament of cosmic web set aglow

GIANT STRUCTURES The cosmic web shows dark matter filaments and intersections where galaxies reside, in a computer simulation.
Photo by: ANATOLY KLYPIN/NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY, JOEL PRIMACK/UC SANTA CRUZ

How Wagner's Operas Held Secrets of His Disabling Migraines, Headaches

In a paper published in the Christmas edition of The BMJ, researchers have looked at how German composer Richard Wagner's disabling migraines and headaches influenced his operas.

As composer of frequently performed operas worldwide, Wagner's medical problems have been investigated in numerous accounts and he even described his headaches and symptoms as the "main plague of his life."
Researchers in Germany therefore wanted to show how Wagner used his suffering to compose his operas, using Siegfried as an example.

Thinking hard weighs heavy on the brain

When the mind is at work, the brain literally gets heavier.
That fact may be surprising, but it isn’t new: In the late 1880s, Italian scientist Angelo Mosso built an intricate full-body balance and reported that mental activity tips the scales. Now, a modern-day version of Mosso’s “human circulation balance” backs him up. Compared with a brain at rest, a brain listening to music and watching a video is indeed heavier, David Field and Laura Inman of the University of Reading in England report January 9 in Brain.

Transfixing tetrahedrons

As a whirling dervish spins, his long skirt can form mesmerizing shapes such as a three-faced pyramid that rotates more slowly than its wearer. Dervishes are Sufi Muslims who represent the revolving heavens with their spinning dance, and it turns out the dance also mirrors the physics of a spinning Earth.

Genome of Longest-Living Cancer

11,000-Year-Old Living Dog Cancer Reveals Its Origin, Evolution

A cancer normally lives and dies with a person, however this is not the case with a sexually transmitted cancer in dogs. In a study published in Science, researchers have described the genome and evolution of this cancer that has continued living within the dog population for the past 11,000 years.

Depression Symptoms, Emotional Support Impact PTSD Treatment Progress, Study Finds

Many individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also experience depression. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University found that during PTSD treatments, rapid improvements in depression symptoms are associated with better outcomes.

Lab-Grown, Virus-Free Stem Cells Repair Retinal Tissue in Mice

Investigators at Johns Hopkins report they have developed human induced-pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) capable of repairing damaged retinal vascular tissue in mice. The stem cells, derived from human umbilical cord-blood and coaxed into an embryonic-like state, were grown without the conventional use of viruses, which can mutate genes and initiate cancers, according to the scientists. Their safer method of growing the cells has drawn increased support among scientists, they say, and paves the way for a stem cell bank of cord-blood derived iPSCs to advance regenerative medicine research.

Scientists Identify Key to Body's Use of Free Calcium

Scientists at Johns Hopkins report they have figured out a key step in how "free" calcium -- the kind not contained in bones -- is managed in the body, a finding that could aid in the development of new treatments for a variety of neurological disorders that include Parkinson's disease.

Particulate Air Pollution Leads to Increased Heart Attack Risk

Long-term exposure to particulate matter is associated with an increased risk for heart attack. Moreover, this association can already be observed in levels of particulate exposure below the current specified European limit values. These are the results of a European research team led by scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München in a population study published in the British Medical Journal.