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Human Brain Activity Energy Illustration

Surprising discovery: MIT neuroscientists have discovered that adult brains are filled with millions of ‘silent synapses’

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Scientists previously thought that silent synapses were only present during early evolution. The adult brain’s ability to form new memories and absorb new information can be explained by these immature connections. MIT neuroscientists have found that the adult brain is riddled with millions of “silent synapses” — immature connections between neurons that aren’t active until …

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The data reveal a surprising preference in particle spin alignment

The data reveal a surprising preference in particle spin alignment

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The new data shows that local fluctuations in the strong nuclear force may affect the spin direction of particles called phi mesons (made of two quarks held together by exchanging gluons). Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory Given a choice of three different directions of “spin,” some particles emanating from collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider …

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Future Earth Global Warming

Orbit of Doom: The surprising connection between Earth’s orbital patterns and an ancient warming event

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An international team of scientists has found that changes in Earth’s orbit favoring hotter conditions may have helped trigger the rapid global warming known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) 56 million years ago. An international team of scientists has suggested that changes in Earth’s orbit that led to warming may have played a role …

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New findings reveal surprising behavior of minerals in the depths of the Earth

New findings reveal surprising behavior of minerals in the depths of the Earth

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Boudinage in brecciated dolostone rocks of the Panamint Range (Wildrose Area, Death Valley National Park). New research shows that periclase is more powerful than bridgmanite in Earth’s lower mantle, and is analogous to pudynates developing in hard (“stronger”) rocks among less efficient (“weaker”) rocks. Credit: Jennifer M. Jackson, Caltech As you read this, there is …

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