Researchers have found that those with increased education are less likely to have displayed symptoms of the disease in their lifetime, suggesting increased schooling to have a compensatory effect on the brain.

Researchers have discovered 2.1 billion year-old fossils that answer new questions about the origins of life on Earth.

A mass fossil discovery in Gabon has provided proof of the existence of multicellular organisms 2.1 billion years ago, challenging established ideas about the transition from single- to multi-cell organisms. The finding, out of CNRS/Universite de Poitiers, is published in the most recent edition of Nature.

Initial Earthly life came in the form of single-celled prokaryotic organisms roughly three and a half billion years ago. Increased complexity ensued, with eukaryotes (single-celled structures which, unlike pokaryotes, contain a nucleus) developing approximately 2 billion years ago. There is however, little else known about the development of life in this embryonic phase, a period dubbed the Porterozoic era, dated from approximately 3.5 to 600 million years ago.

In Gabon, while digging in 2.1 billion-year-old sediment, the interdisciplinary French research team collected more than 250 fossils which, being 10 to 12 centimeters long, were too large and complex to be pokaryotes or eukaryotes.  They often collected the specimens in concentrated blocks across scattered terrain suggesting that the organisms lived in colonies in a shallow marine environment.

These findings constitute a milestone in understanding life's origins. Previously, the oldest complex life forms were dated from approximately 600 million years ago. The new discovery moves the timeline of complex life back 1.5 billion years, challenging previously held norms regarding organic diversity.

Dutch researchers have demonstrated that testosterone, which is suggested to have antagonistic properties to oxytocin, downgrades interpersonal trust and enhances cautious interaction between humans.

From Bernie Madoff to Tiger Woods, from Aeschylus to Shakespeare, many human scripts of tragedy and betrayal can be better understood in the context of oxytocin. Gestures of affection and compassion: a caress, promise or well-delivered financial commitment, will discharge oxytocin into the bloodstream. In 2005, Swiss researchers found that after individually delivering a squirt of oxytocin to subjects, the peptide hormone increased trust in an investment game, at once expanding both interaction and potential for betrayal.

Scientists at Utrecht University seem to have identified testosterone as the antidote to this excessive trust. They administered testosterone, in the form of a liquid drop under the tongue, to young women who were then asked to judge the trustworthiness of certain men's faces. Those under the influence of testosterone were significantly less likely to trust the faces.

Women already deemed to be less trusting, due to a natural inhibition to oxytocin in the placebo test, were hardly affected by the testosterone dosage, while the more trusting women had their attitudes change substantially. Testosterone thus seems to be, in the context of trustworthiness, a protective mechanism for women. It adaptively increases social vigilance and stigmatisation in trusting individuals to better protect their long-term interests.

This study comes on the heels of notable research into testosterone's effect on fair bargaining behaviour and the female libido. Folk wisdom has generalised findings from animal studies to conclude that testosterone is most likely responsible for increasing antisocial and aggressive human behaviour. While, research published in Nature in January demonstrates that a single dose of testosterone in women substantially reduces bargaining conflicts and increases the efficiency of social interactions. Testosterone is also known from other studies to enhance a woman's libido, as there is a peak production of the hormone in the period prior to ovulation.

Combined, this recent testosterone research demonstrates that, in women, high levels of the hormone elicits fair and efficient social behaviour, heightened skepticism about other individual's intentions, and increased sexual desire. From this, the Dutch researchers conclude that "the hormone seems to motivate for rational decision-making, social scrutiny and cleverness, the apparent tools for success in a modern society."

The research is published in the Proceedings of the National Acadamey of Science.

Feral pigeons could be asymptomatic or subclinical carriers of the pathogens Chlamydophila psittaci and Campylobacter jejuni, responsible for acute diarrhea in humans.

The scientists tested a total of 118 pigeons, captured using gun-propelled nets during 2006-2007, from the public parks and gardens in Madrid, Spain. Blood and enema samples were analysed and screened for the presence of pathogens. DNA sequencing was carried out for positive samples. A high prevalence of Chlamydophila psittaci (52.6%) and Campylobacter jejuni (69.1%) was seen in the captured birds. The birds themselves did not have exhibit any of the symptoms associated with being infected with these pathogens. This suggests that feral pigeons act as asymptomatic reservoirs of Chlamydophila psittaci and Campylobacter jejuni.

Although there have been few reports of disease transmission between pigeons and humans, it can occur by aerosols, direct contact or indirect contact through food and water contamination. Given the high density of pigeons in the public parks and gardens of most cities, it poses a direct threat to public health.

The results are published in the open access journal Acta Vetinaria Scandinavica.

A damaged prefrontal cortex leads to impaired preparation and reaction speeds in response to a stimulus.

The brain's right prefrontal cortex is responsible for anticipation and quick reactions to stimuli. This is involved in preparing for an event before it actually occurs. Research at the University of Granada has investigated the impact of damage to the frontal cortex on responses to stimuli. The aspects considered were temporal preparation, the interval between the stimulus and the response and sequential effects on the reaction.

The subjects were in three groups: those with damage to the prefrontal cortex, those with damage to the left frontal cortex and basal ganglia circuits and as a control, the healthy individuals. They were shown a sign that both validly and invalidly predicted a stimulus. It was valid when the stimulus followed directly afterwards, but was invalid when it was presented either too early or too late and had little predicting power. This sign was used to test the patients' anticipation.

While the subjects with damage to the prefrontal cortex demonstrated a deficiency in temporal preparation, both of the other groups showed normal preparation. The same result was obtained with regard to the stimulus-response interval; only the group with damage to the prefrontal cortex demonstrated impaired preparation effects. However, normal sequential reactions were conserved in all of the groups.

The study has shown that damage to the right prefrontal cortex impairs intentional anticipation, but unintentional anticipation continues to function. This could give rise to forms of therapy, and the researchers are currently looking into this. They are investigating the dependency of a patient's response speed on intentional anticipation. They hope that providing rhythms, which appeals to unintentional preparation, can improve the patient's temporal preparation.

The results are published in the journal Brain.

Chinese researchers at the Southeast University in Nanjing have successfully built an electromagnetic absorbing device for microwave frequencies. They have utilised the special properties of metamaterials- a class of ordered composites which can distort light and other waves.

The device, officially called an 'omnidirectional electromagnetic absorber', consists of a thin cylinder containing 60 strips of circuit board arranged in concentric layers and  coated in copper.  Each layer is imprinted with alternating patterns, which either resonate or do not resonate with electromagnetic waves. The device can trap and absorb electromagnetic waves coming from all directions by spiraling the radiation inwards and converting its energy into heat with an absorption rate of 99%. Hence it behaves like an 'electromagnetic black body' or an 'electromagnetic black hole' and has been compared to an astrophysical black hole (which, soaks up matter and light).

This experimental result is in agreement with the theoretical work proposed  in 2009, where theoretical analysis and numerical simulations showed that all optical waves hitting the non-magnetic metamaterials are trapped and absorbed. This device at present only works at microwave frequencies, but the researchers are planning to develop a black hole for visible light next.

Researchers from the University of Rhode Island have found that coral reef conservation can be achieved successfully through transplantation of fragmented corals. 

Asexual reproduction by fragmentation is the most common form of reproduction in natural populations of Elkhorn corals. Branches break off due to for example wave action in storms and some branches establish on the reef and grow. The decline of Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) is due mainly to white-band disease whose effects have been compounded by indirect human impacts such as coral bleaching.

Forrester and colleagues measured growth rates of Elkhorn corals, found growing in the Virgin Islands of Caribbean, under various different treatments. Their research, published in Restoration Ecology, shows a significant increase in growth rate and survival of attached coral fragments compared to unattached fragments. Removing macroalgae from around the attached fragments also increases the coral growth rate.  The method of attaching coral did not have an effect on coral growth although some methods may be more beneficial than others due to cost and efficiency constraints.

Coral restoration projects are rarely studied scientifically, but this research highlights that successful solutions are sometimes cheap and simple. Transplantation methods highlighted in the study can be undertaken by relatively untrained volunteers such as recreational divers. Further work to increase public education on conservation would also help to preserve these fragile and beautiful ecosystems.