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The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. When I am too hot at work I like to open a window, retrieve an ice lolly from the kitchen and kick off my shoes. But for many people, this is not an option. Finding the right temperature can make a big difference to how happy—and productive—we are at work. It can also be the cause of some serious arguments....

The exquisite hormonal signaling that drives the female reproductive system cannot be modeled in a flat petri dish. Scrambling to address history’s long dearth of research in women’s health and physiology, scientists have now created the first “organ on a chip” model that functionally re-creates the female menstrual cycle. This 3-D system may help scientists understand some causes of recurrent miscarriages and could fuel new studies into birth control and drug development in other areas....

These findings have influenced child-rearing practices ever since, and it is now taken for granted that the more time a parent talks to an infant, the better. In subsequent studies infant-directed speech has consistently been linked to a child’s language skills, which in turn influence IQ, executive function and emotion regulation. The Tsimané, a so-called “preindustrial society,” are a favorite among anthropologists and health scientists. They have changed how we think about heart disease, color identification, sleep, music preferences, parasitic worms and genes for Alzheimer’s disease—and now language development....

From Nature magazine Scientists who helped to fight the 2003 epidemic of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) have sprung into action again to investigate the latest threat: a new SARS-related virus that has killed one man and left another seriously ill. Last week, the researchers reported the genome sequence of the new coronavirus and the first diagnostic tests to screen for it — two major advances that will help in efforts to control the pathogen if it turns into a wider menace....

SHANGHAI – Some 1,000 years ago, the Chinese named this city “Shanghai” based on its location. It literally means “above the sea.” Those pioneers probably never imagined the situation that confronts this city today: Shanghai is on its way to being below the sea. Climate change is pushing up the sea level globally. While in Shanghai, such rise is roughly the length of a rice grain in each of recent years, the low-lying city with a population of more than 20 million has had to pour billions of dollars into rebuilding infrastructure to protect against potential floods....

HOUSTON — Even soaring high above Earth on a high-tech space station doesn’t excuse astronauts from the most mundane household chores … especially when you’re dealing with a smelly space toilet. The 10 astronauts on the International Space Station today (July 13) tackled the daunting chore of unpacking tons of supplies delivered by NASA’s shuttle Atlantis this week. But one station crewmember, NASA astronaut Ron Garan, had a more pressing duty: fixing the space station’s zero gravity potty....

Inspiration often seems to pop up unpredictably—in the shower, on a long walk or even at the grocery store. But one place I never expect it is during sleep. I tend to think of myself as a computer: at bedtime I power myself down with teeth brushing and pillow fluffing, and soon enough my brain switches off. That analogy, however, is dead wrong. Your sleeping brain has simply entered an alternative mode of thinking, as psychologist Deirdre Barrett writes in “Answers in Your Dreams....

The Trump administration today is proposing to severely restrict the number of wetlands and waterways covered by the Clean Water Act. EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are unveiling a new definition for “waters of the U.S.,” or WOTUS, that would erase federal protections for streams that flow only after rainfall or snowmelt, as well as wetlands without surface water connections to larger waterways. Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler celebrated the new definition, saying, “Our new, more precise definition means that hardworking Americans will spend less time determining whether they need a federal permit and more time upgrading aging infrastructure, building homes, creating jobs and growing crops to feed our families....

Tuna swim faster than almost any other fish in the ocean—but not fast enough to escape the fishing fleets and farming of humanity. As a result of global demand, the giants of the sea known as bluefin tuna are shrinking in size, or in some cases disappearing altogether. In fact, off the eastern coast of Nova Scotia, where enormous bluefin tuna used to be visible deep beneath the waves, populations have dropped by 90 percent, according to the consortium of countries that make up the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas....

The early part of the Industrial Revolution, from about 1760 to about 1840, saw the strength of muscles replaced with the power of machinery. The technological revolution from 1840 to 1950 saw the rise of mass manufacturing. The changes in this later period were based on advances in science–chemistry, physics, electrical and mechanical engineering. Manufacturing was run on the new science of management theory: studies of time, motion and efficiency. And all of these advances were communicated on mass-printed paper cheaply made from wood pulp....

When the Food and Drug Administration ran into White House resistance to its proposed vaccine safety standards in early October, the agency took a bold step: It published the guidance on its Web site. The public could now see what vaccine manufacturers and the FDA’s own independent advisory panel would require to ensure a longer, scientifically rigorous process. The two public health agencies responsible for overseeing the approval, distribution and use of a coronavirus vaccine—the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—have been undermined and politicized....

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The sound made by a male big brown bat as it zeroes in on a bug that might make a tasty meal - if another bat doesn’t get there first - is a sequence of chirps beyond the range of human ears. But to another bat, the meaning is unmistakable: “Back off.” Scientists said on Thursday they have identified a previously unknown call made by these bats - different from the sonar-like echolocation used for mid-air navigation and hunting - that tells another foraging bat to keep away from their prey....

IF YOU HAVE NEVER watched bees carefully, you are missing out. Look closely as they gently curl and uncoil their mouthparts around food, and you will sense that they are not just eating but enjoying their meal. Watch a bit more, and the hesitant flicks and sags of their antennae seem to convey some kind of emotion. Do those twitches signal annoyance? Or something like enthusiasm? Whether bees really experience any of these emotions is an open scientific question....

In July the Internet exploded with a photo of schoolchildren. The kids, dressed in dark shorts and colorful T-shirts, appear to be enjoying a field trip, perhaps to a zoo or a nature preserve. In the center of the image, a crouching girl in a yellow T-shirt holds a medium-sized turtle toward an adult taking a picture of the scene. Smiling classmates, dressed in matching white, green, red and blue T-shirts, gather around the girl and turtle....

Human-induced climate and hydrological change is likely to make many parts of the world uninhabitable, or at least uneconomic. Over the course of a few decades, if not sooner, hundreds of millions of people may be compelled to relocate because of environmental pressures. To a significant extent, water will be the most important determinant of these population movements. Dramatic alterations in the relation between water and society will be widespread, as emphasized in the new report from Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change....

It was the middle of the night in Jerusalem, and we were watching mice swim. The year was 1994, and the two of us were crouching over a pool of cold water in a laboratory at the Hebrew University. The room was chilly, our hunched backs ached, and we had been repeating this routine over many nights, so we were tired and uncomfortable. So were the mice. Mice really dislike swimming, especially in cold water—but we wanted to stress them out....

The recently leaked news about an intriguing, potentially extraterrestrial radio signal detected as part of the Breakthrough Listen project may not turn out to be “it”—the unequivocal sign of a technological species out there in our galaxy—but still offers a great opportunity for some reflection on the nature of cosmic life. Some details of this curious narrowband hum at a frequency of around 982.002 MHz, and its apparent coincidence with the direction of Proxima Centauri, have been reported, and we’ll have to wait a little while longer for the full technical analysis to be presented....

Twenty-five years after the tragedy at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine, tons of concrete shield workers and visitors from the puddle of dangerously radioactive melted fuel that lurks in the basement. In contrast, more than 30 years after the accident at Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, Pa., the next-door twin of the partially melted-down reactor is still in operation and surrounded by homes. Eventually the plant will be torn down and the site cleaned up....

As I wrote in my Scientific American column this month, crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo are rapidly changing the way new products are born. These sites let inventors appeal directly to the public for money to develop their creations and bring them to market—quickly and without any corporate meddling. Some truly great products have reached, or are on their way to, the public via these sites, including the Pebble smartwatch and the Coolest picnic cooler (that has integrated speakers, blender and phone recharger)....

SAN DIEGO — Being a social butterfly just might change your brain: In people with a large network of friends and excellent social skills, certain brain regions are bigger and better connected than in people with fewer friends, a new study finds. The research, presented here Tuesday (Nov. 12) at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, suggests a connection between social interactions and brain structure. “We’re interested in how your brain is able to allow you to navigate in complex social environments,” study researcher MaryAnn Noonan, a neuroscientist at Oxford University, in England, said at a news conference....