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1,217 news posts in Mind and body

Neuroscience

07 Oct 2015

Join us in Chicago at the Neuroscience 2015 Conference

Going to #SfN15 in Chicago, United-States? Meet Frontiers at Neuroscience 2015 this October 17 – 21! Come chat with us about Open Access publishing, interactive peer-review, becoming an editor, or about hosting your very own Research Topic! A Research Topic allows you to spotlight your area of research by editing a collection of cutting-edge peer-reviewed articles. For example, take a look at this very successful Research Topic in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Neuroinflammation and behaviour has had over 48’000 views and is available as a freely downloadable e-book! You can learn more about Research Topics in this brochure. We are looking forward to seeing you at #SfN15!

Health

29 Sep 2015

Celebrating coffee on International Coffee Day

Happy International Coffee Day! As millions of people celebrate their drug of choice, this is a perfect time to consider where we would be without coffee. Would we… …be more productive? Drinking coffee, and the caffeine that comes with it, does result in various chemical responses that give you that buzz of energy (check out the video by Science Alert for a summary). We have all heard individuals claim that they cannot start the day without their cup of coffee – but research suggests that after the honeymoon period of lovely highs and bursts of energy, continued coffee drinking actually just acts to counter-affect caffeine withdrawal (Rogers et al, 2010). Then there is our own daily cycle to take into account. Just like a cup of coffee affects individuals differently (it only makes three in ten people poo), it also affects individuals differently during different times of the day. Your daily hormone fluctuations can alter how coffee affects you. In fact early in the morning may not be the best time to drink coffee – check out this Science Alert video to find out when you should be drinking coffee. It is not all about the energy and efficiency – […]

Health

29 Sep 2015

World Heart Day 2015

Prof Hendrik Tevaearai Stahel joined Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine as Field Chief Editor this month (Photo credit: University Hospital of Bern (Inselspital)) On World Heart Day, Frontiers presents an exclusive interview with Prof Hendrik Tevaearai Stahel, Associate Professor at the University of Bern and Head of R&D at the Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery at the University Hospital. Prof Tevaearai recently joined Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine as Field Chief Editor. What motivated you to become a cardiovascular surgeon? As I wrote in my editorial for Frontiers in Surgery, section Heart Surgery, it all started when I was seven years old. I was injured and needed an urgent operation on my wrist. It was my first contact with the operating room, and I was immediately fascinated by this environment. I knew then I was going to be a surgeon. During medical school I had the chance to spend a month in the cardiovascular surgery unit of Lausanne University Hospital. I will always remember the first time I saw a real heart beating in a patient’s thoracic cavity. The head of the clinic was a very inspiring and charismatic person, and this added a lot to the already huge respect I had for this discipline. A few years later, I finally became […]

Life sciences

22 Sep 2015

A new perspective on the deep sea world

Frontiers Science Here: Jon Copley – A new perspective on the deep sea world from Frontiers on Vimeo. Jon Copley is the first British person to dive further down than 5 km deep in the ocean.  He is one of Frontiers’ Science Heroes.  As a marine biologist, he dives and explores life in the depth of the oceans, across the world. Specifically, he studies colonies of animals in island-like habitats on the ocean floor, near hydrothermal vents.  His goal is to investigate the distribution, dispersal and evolution of these species. He is a bit like a 19th century discoverer. “That’s an analogy I often like to use because these deep-sea vents are island-like colonies of marine life on the ocean floor,” he said. “It’s like going to a new continent.” Ultimately, learning from deep-sea species can lead to applications though potential new treatements from marine microbes and new design for wings and fan blades inspired from whales flippers, among others. Copley currently works at the University of Southampton, in the UK, as an associate Professor of Marine Ecology. He also is the principal investigator of the Chemosynthetic Environments Research Team. In a Skype interview, he shares his passion for discovering […]

Life sciences

17 Sep 2015

Preservation of the Ozone Layer: Years later and so much more to do

by Ben Stockton​, Journal Operations Assistant ​In an interview with a former student, the late Frank Sherwood Rowland recalled the moment when, after returning home from the lab, his wife asked him how his work was going. He replied, “The work is going well, but it looks like the end of the world”. The frivolity of the prophesy in the early 1970s of Rowland, a former atmospheric chemist at the University of California, Irvine, is clear. Naturally it didn’t come to fruition, but there was the element of truth behind it. The research with his colleague Mario Molina (pictured below) created a new field of science and sparked major international intervention. Signing of the Montreal Protocol It is considered the most successful international agreement in history – by Kofi Annan, nonetheless. The signing of the Montreal Protocol on this day—September 16, 1987— showcased a worldwide unity of science, government and industry, the holy trinity of environmental lobbying. It instilled change that would transcend a generation of signatories. As if like a pebble dropped into calm waters, the surface has only just been disturbed. After almost 20 years, the benefits of that lie in the wake this agreement will continue to ripple outwards […]

Life sciences

07 Sep 2015

Researching the problems right in front of us

Frontiers Science Hero: Alex Hansen from Frontiers on Vimeo. Prof. Alex Hansen has always been fascinated with problems. “As you get older you begin to find out that problems are wonderful,” he said. “You do not have to look into the galaxy to look for problems; you can see them right in front of you. I feel, quite literally, down to earth with my field of research.” Prof. Hansen earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1986. He has been professor of physics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway from 1994. Hansen is member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the Royal Norwegian Society of Science and Letters and the Norwegian Academy of Technical Sciences. He was awarded an honorary doctorate (Dr. h. c.) by the University of Rennes in 2009. Hansen has chaired the Commission on Computational Physics (C20, of IUPAP) and acts as a vice president for the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. He is also the Field Chief Editor for Frontiers in Physics. Without his curiosity Hansen would not be where he is now. Without curiosity the world would be, in his words, “terrible”. His research and need […]

Neuroscience

02 Sep 2015

STAFF PICK: Neuroscience perspectives on Security: Technology, Detection, and Decision Making

Meet Nikolaos Anagnostos. Nikolaos is a production coordinator who has been with Frontiers since 2011. As part of the production team, he sees a lot of articles come through and helps manage them along the way. His staff pick is an e-book, which is a collection of articles that were the result of a Frontiers Research Topic. The e-book is free to download. Below is why he chose this e-book. E-Book Staff Pick: Neuroscience perspectives on Security: Technology, Detection, and Decision Making Edited by: Elena Rusconi, Kenneth C. Scott-Brown, Andrea Szymkowiak From tracing the neural markers of successful lying and discussing the potential use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as a lie detector in criminal courts, to a debate on whether non-invasive brain stimulation should be used in security and military services and a closer look at CCTV operators or at an X-ray security scanner offering multiple views of objects as image sequences: the articles included in this e-book present a wide range of security science topics, while examining the multiple social and ethical questions that arise. Personally, I found it interesting to read how much effort is done to overcome the artificial environment that is inherent in these experimental […]

Life sciences

22 Aug 2015

Marie Tharp: Cartographer Extraordinaire (1920 – 2006)

The reality of plate tectonics and continental shift are things we take for granted now; much like heliocentrism, planetary magnetism and the fact that illnesses do not derive from an imbalance of humours. However, of these truisms, the first two only became accepted in mainstream science in living memory. There was a time within the past sixty-odd years when geoscientists propagating the theory of continental shift were treading the path of “career suicide”. The groundwork behind the acceptance of his theory came about through a painstaking mapping of the ocean floor and, if one person could be put forward as having done the leg work in this regard, it was geologist Marie Tharp. Marie Tharp was born in Michigan, USA, in 1920. Her father was a soil surveyor for the US Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Chemistry and Soils. As his work brought him – and his family – all across the United States, Marie had attended twenty-four high schools by the time she graduated. In considering third-level education, her preferred institution for studying literature did not accept women. As a result, Tharp enrolled at Ohio University where she graduated with a major in English in 1943 at the height […]

Health

19 Aug 2015

World Humanitarian Day

  World Humanitarian Day is a day dedicated to celebrate and recognize humanitarian work around the globe. Initially established by the UN General Assembly in 2008, and first observed one year thereafter, it is held annually on August 19th, coinciding with the anniversary of the 2003 terrorist attack on UN headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq. Today, we are celebrating the 7th World Humanitarian Day, a time to recognize and increase general public awareness of humanitarian activities. A day to honour the work of humanitarians worldwide has become of increased importance, seeing as the total number of people in need of humanitarian help has drastically risen over the past decade. This day also underlines the importance of international cooperation in meeting humanitarian needs around the world, highlighting the demand to do more, as humanitarian crises continue to grow. The theme of this year’s WHD is to “Inspire the World’s Humanity”, and is aided by the #ShareHumanity digital campaign, aiming at mobilizing a larger and more active citizenship through social media, at a time at which the world is ever more digitally connected. More on the World Humanitarian Day may be found here: http://www.worldhumanitarianday.org/

Life sciences

04 Aug 2015

Meet us in Lausanne at the 15th congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB 2015)

Going to #eseb2015 in Lausanne, Switzerland? Join Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution at the 15th congress of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology this August 10 – 14! Come chat with us about Open Access publishing, peer-review, becoming an editor while tasting some delicious Swiss chocolates! All questions are welcome and no topic is off limits. For example, would you like to bring attention to your particular research area? Why not participate in editing a collection of cutting-edge peer-reviewed articles, called a Research Topic? Recently in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, the Research Topic Ballroom biology: recent insights into honey bee waggle dance communications has been quite successful, with over 8,000 views and 25 authors participating. If you are interested in social evolution, check out this other Research Topic, on Genetic effects on social traits: empirical studies from social animals – it is currently open for submissions! You can learn more about Research Topics in this brochure. We are looking forward to seeing you at ESEB 2015!

Life sciences

20 Jul 2015

Small steps and giant leaps

While New Horizons is making history by sending back a wealth of data from Pluto and its moons, let us not forget another piece of space history – today, Monday July 20th, is the 46th anniversary of the first Moon walk. It all began with Apollo 11, with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins blasting off into space on July 16th, 1969, with the intent to be the first men to land on the Moon. On July 20th, at 20:18 UTC Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the surface of the Moon, an event watched by an estimated 500 million people (at the time nearly 15% of Earth’s population). The crew of Apollo 11 spent approximately 21 and a half hours on the lunar surface before returning home, bringing back with them over 20 kilograms of Moon rock. “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.” – Inscription on the Lunar plaque left on the Moon Over the next 3 and a half years 5 other Apollo missions and 10 other men walked on the lunar surface: Apollo 12, November 19th, 1969: Pete Conrad’s first words upon landing on the Moon (“Whoopie! […]

Life sciences

16 Jul 2015

Staff pick: Inside or out? Possible genomic consequences of extracellular transmission of crypt-dwelling stinkbug mutualists

Meet Michiel Dijkstra, from the Frontiers Press Office. Before coming to us, he did a PhD on social evolution at the University of Copenhagen, and worked as a postdoc at McGill University and the University of Lausanne. *Entirely* coincidentally, he picked as his personal favorite a paper from Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. Read the paper: http://fron.tiers.in/go/8R17QF Otero-Bravo A and Sabree ZL (2015) Inside or out? Possible genomic consequences of extracellular transmission of crypt-dwelling stinkbug mutualists. Front. Ecol. Evol. 3:64. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2015.00064 Michiel writes: “This paper is on a fascinating symbiosis: between stinkbugs (insects in the superfamily Pentatomoidea) and the bacteria that live inside their guts. The stinkbugs can survive without these bacteria, but develop more slowly and die faster without them. Here, Alejandro Otero-Bravo and Zakee L. Sabree from The Ohio State University review the evolutionary effects of the symbiosis on the genome – that is, the ensemble of the DNA, including genes – of the bacteria. The genome has shrunk and partly degenerated. But interestingly, not to the same extent as in many other bacteria that live in association with insects. The researchers explain this from the way the female stinkbugs pass the bacteria on to their offspring: by smearing […]

Life sciences

09 Jul 2015

Annalisa Pastore: A love story with the double helix that started at 17

Frontiers Science Hero: Annalisa Pastore from Frontiers on Vimeo. Annalisa Pastore is one of Frontiers Science Heroes. She is currently Frontiers’ Field Editor of Molecular Biosciences. A native of Italy, she has been Professor in Molecular Basis of Neurodegeneration at Kings College London, UK, since 2013. Her focus is on understanding the molecular mechanisms of Friedreich’s ataxia, a neurodegenerative disease progressively leading to a loss of coordination and speech difficulties. She says in her work, she relies on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) to identify the structures of proteins involved in the disease messaging pathways. She explains what initially attracted her to this field: “I certainly fell in love with the double helix story when I was 17,” she said. Now, combining theoretical and experimental work, she relies on techniques that are mostly biophysical to elucidate the structure of very proteins that were “one of the loves of her youth.” Her current work was initiated following the discovery, in 1996, of the human frataxin gene associated with Friedreich’s ataxia. “One of the most beautiful things that we have been doing was, really, to understand the link between frataxin and [its role in] the iron-sulfur cluster pathway, she said. This led her to—at least partially— identify the role […]

Humanities

30 Jun 2015

An Interview with Yannick Rochat on Digital Humanities

The Annual Conference of the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (#DH2015) – is currently taking place in Sydney, Australia from June 29 to July 3. Though Frontiers is not attending, we recently met with Yannick Rochat, postgraduate researcher of the EPFL Digital Humanities Lab  who will be presenting on ‘Character Network Analysis of Émile Zola’s Les Rougon-Macquart’ on July 1, to discuss the current state of the field. His comments deliver an insightful look at what it means to study Digital Humanities today. Digital Humanities are here to stay. The field has, for a good half-century, been coming into its own, echoing a global need for new connections, new dialogues, and a new way of approaching the old. The old reshuffled. Refurbished. Reinstated. Interdisciplinarity is central to Digital Humanities. The field exhibits an interest in bridging traditionally holistic and hermetic disciplines. Openness and dialogue are key. Indeed, it would be impossible for one aspect of its bipartite structure to subsume the other (that the “digital” would consume and undo humanities, or the obverse: that humanities could “triumph” over the digital fad). The foundation of Digital Humanities is the necessity for dialogue. As the interview below shows, the field may be seen […]