Author: Diane Shipley
Staff Writer Diane is especially interested in high-tech medical advances, weird and interesting uses of science, new gadgets, and the intersection of tech and lifestyle. When not working, she reads the internet, listens to podcasts, watches American TV, and thinks about leaving the house.
Could online procrastination actually improve productivity?
Next time you have a huge work deadline, you should probably open up Twitter or Facebook. No, really. According to a new study from the University of Cincinnati, taking breaks to click around the internet can improve productivity. Researchers conducted in-depth interviews with professionals from a range of industries, 62% of whom were women. They…
The first antipsychotic patch could replace medication
The NHS has begun a trial of the world’s first antipsychotic patch. As Mental Health Today reports, it will deliver a medication called asenapine, which is used in the treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and schizoaffective disorder (a condition which includes elements of both bipolar and schizophrenia). Though the term is often confused with being…
Etching could be the hair dye of the future
It could one day be possible to colour your hair as easily as you straighten it, according to scientists from the University of New Mexico and Los Alamos National Laboratories. They’ve patented a method of etching designs onto hair using focused ion beams, so it looks like it’s changed colour but isn't actually damaged. There’s…
Is a women-only Ghostbusters on the way?
Who you gonna call? Well, Sandra Bullock would be good. Kristen Wiig could certainly kick ghost butt. And Melissa McCarthy is a no-brainer. Paul Feig, director of smash lady-centric comedies Bridesmaids and The Heat (plus, fact fans, once a minor character on Sabrina the Teenage Witch) is apparently in talks to revitalise the 30-year old…
Google’s Baseline Study will find out what makes us healthy
Google wants to map every aspect of a healthy human body. (I mean, why not? It’s not like they’re busy.) The company’s ambitions are right there in its mission statement: ‘to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful’. Thinking small, we once thought they were just referring to text on the…
Scientists have found the part of our brains that makes us expect the worst
Good news for real-life grumpy cats: if you find yourself expecting the worst and struggle to get motivated, the problem isn't your personality. You probably just have a hyperactive habenula. British scientists now believe that this small (half the size of a pea) part of the brain is responsible for our negative predications and worse-case-scenario…
Don’t need much sleep? You may be a mutant
We’ve often thought that people who somehow manage to stay calm, focused and seemingly cheerful on just a few hours’ sleep were mutants – and now we have scientific proof. An international group of researchers studied 100 pairs of twins recruited by the University of Pennsylvania and found that one of them had a gene…
Monarch’s new MPlayer brings in-flight entertainment to your device
Today, Monarch Airlines launched its new in-flight entertainment system, MPlayer. Clearly realising that passengers don’t want to be staring at a tiny screen on the back of the seat in front of them but instead want to be staring at a tiny screen in their hands, the MPlayer comes as an app that needs to…
Scientists can now make organs see-through
Scientists have succeeded in making bodies see through for the first time. And it does NOT look good. (If you have even the slightest suspicion that you might not want to see a photo of a transparent mouse, follow that instinct. Trust me.) But freakish as it may seem, turning organs clear is a huge…
Could this light-up jacket make cycling safer?
A new jacket is aimed at making cycling around London (and other cities) safer for women. Despite the stellar example set by Victoria Pendleton and Laura Trott, and the fact that the 2012 Olympics inspired around 200,000 people to get on their bikes, men are still three times as likely as women to cycle, and…
