Indian researchers are criticizing a government proposal by which graduate students who publish in select journals will be paid extra money. Such a practice could degrade the quality of research and increase scientific misconduct, critics say. Months-long protests of academics against the proposal have just concluded in India and new ones are already on the horizon.

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Humans are social beings and loneliness can have a lasting impact on our physical well-being. According to scientists from the Brain Dynamics Lab, modern life is leading people toward greater isolation which can trigger many disorders. Their plan is to tackle loneliness with medication, and doing so, prevent the onset of harsher psychological problems that may follow. Read more

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai have been the first to clone genetically-altered primates. Five infant macaques share the exact same genes, derived from a fibroblast taken from the skin of a donor monkey. This technique could theoretically produce an unlimited number of replicas and provide clear benefits for medical testing.

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Researchers from the University of Colorado have published interesting results from their survey on acceptance of genetically modified (GM) foods. They found that the most extreme opponents of GM foods actually know the least about the science behind it, but believe the opposite. These eye-opening insights shed light on an increasingly relevant topic and could have implications for science communication in other fields alike.

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Researchers from Imperial College London have developed a new material that interacts with injured tissues to promote wound healing. It could change the way traditional medical materials interact with the body and revolutionize the way injuries are treated. Read more

Crocodile on sand

A new study has shown that extracts from crocodile white blood cells can reduce the growth of human cancer cells. Researchers are looking closer into the matter in hopes of finding novel cancer therapies in the future.

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Researchers from Cambridge have a new tool in the fight against cancer. Virtual reality (VR) simulation which can show detailed maps of the cells in a tumor. This way structure can be explored and analyzed from an entirely new perspective. Researchers hope their 3D models of cancer could lead to unexpected breakthroughs. Read more

Researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed a new technique for shaping structures out of strands of DNA (DNA origami). In the game of tic-tac-toe on a DNA board, they reshaped an already-constructed DNA structure. The technology could be used to develop more sophisticated nanomachines with reconfigurable parts. Read more

A 1 in 10 chance of surviving – these are the odds victims are facing after being stung by the highly venomous Gadim Scorpion. It alone is responsible for up to 67% of the scorpion-related deaths in Iran. And with Iran being among the top countries in the world most affected by scorpion-related envenomation, these numbers are alarming. Read more

Last year, millions of people in the United States alone have submitted their DNA for analysis. Stanford researchers have found that information people receive not only predicts their risk for disease but, it turns out, in some cases might also have influenced that risk. Read more