Researchers have found that smell and sound signals merge in the mouse brain's hearing center, influencing social behaviors like pup retrieval. The discovery may lead to a better understanding of how neurological conditions such as autism affect a person's ability to interpret social cues.
Read more …Mixed signals: How the brain interprets social cues
Among the hundreds of thousands of chemical compounds produced by plants, some may hold the key to treating human ailments and diseases. But recreating these complex, naturally occurring molecules in the lab often requires a time-consuming and tedious trial-and-error process. Now, chemists have shown how new computational tools can help them create complex natural compounds in a faster and more streamlined way.
Read more …Virtual chemistry speeds up drug discovery
A new study used acoustic sensors that detect the sound of gunfire to show how often children in one Chicago neighborhood are exposed to gunshots while walking to and from school. Results showed that nearly two-thirds of schools in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago had at least one gun incident within 400 meters (about one-quarter mile) of where children were walking home during the 2021-22 school year.
Read more …Acoustic sensors find frequent gunfire on school walking routes