Found in many salad dressings, pickles, and other foods, vinegar could help prevent accumulation of body fat and weight gain, scientists report.
Researchers in Japan are reporting new evidence that the ordinary vinegar — a staple in oil-and-vinegar salad dressings, pickles, and other foods — may live up to its age-old reputation in folk medicine as [...]

The pulse technique could be used to enhance intellectual capacity and help those with learning difficulties
Researchers discovered that the ability of the brain to learn a task and remember it was greatly enhanced when a magnetic pulse was applied to the premotor cortex – the area of the brain just behind the forehead.

Hymenophyllum jamesonii, an epiphytic fern of  the neotropical rain forests
As flowering plants like giant trees quickly rose to dominate plant communities during the Cretaceous period, the ferns that had preceded them hardly saw it as a disappointment.

as zebra finches fine-tune their songs, the brain initially stores improvements in one brain pathway before transferring this learned information to the motor pathway for long-term storage
Learning complex skills like playing an instrument requires a sequence of movements that can take years to master. Last year, MIT neuroscientists reported that by studying the chirps of [...]

New near-infrared image of the Helix Nebula, showing comet-shaped knots within.
The Helix Nebula, NGC 7293, is not only one of the most interesting and beautiful planetary nebulae; it is also one of the closest nebulae to Earth, at a distance of only 710 light years away. A new image, taken with an infrared camera [...]

Coffee drinkers may have another reason to pour that extra cup. When aged mice bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease were given caffeine — the equivalent of five cups of coffee a day — their memory impairment was reversed.
Coffee drinkers may have another reason to pour that extra cup. When aged mice bred [...]

Tweel: Michelin’s airless tire
Tweel is an innovative tire design created by Michelin. The tire uses no air and therefore cannot burst or become flat. (More pics and video after the break)
 
 

Last year, Pentagon mad science arm Darpa was working on one of its wildest projects yet: a microchip-sized nuclear reactor. The program is now officially done, the agency says. But these sorts of far-out projects have a habit of being reemerging under new managers and new names.
 

The moon is responsible for spurring human imagination as it has provided the basis for countless works of literature, art, music, and as representative of the power of human endeavour. (Pics)
 

Get your balls wet and smash em together!

Waterwalkerz let you get in touch with your inner hamster and walk on water at the same time. Once inside the plastic inflatable ball you’ll be able to walk on water for up to 30 minutes before the air runs out, although you’re likely to run out of [...]

Fun at 1600 meters!

A tightrope walker in China has broken a world record after crossing a wire suspended 1,607 meters above sea level.
As if that isn’t hairraising enough, this video also captures the moment Ahdili Wuxiuer broke a second world record by climbing over his pupil Saddar in the middle of the wire.
(video after jump…)