A group of scientists from Massachusetts Institution of Technology are developing computers that can recognize facial expressions, the BBC reported Tuesday. A scene from the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" which features sentient computer HAL. Using this technology, computers can identify basic emotions such as like, dislike, confusion by taking information about people’s faces via camera and ana...

People with blood type A may be susceptible to certain strains of rotavirus infections, Science Daily reported Sunday. (MCT) Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas have found that strains of the virus seem to find their way into human cells by recognizing antigens found in blood type A. Rotavirus is most common cause of severe dehydration and diarrhea in infants, from whic...

A recent study by U.S. researchers suggests that intelligence may have co-evolved with worrying, Science Daily reported Thursday. (MCT) Brain activity during the intellectual process involves depletion of the nutrient choline in the sub-cortical white matter, which is also true of the process of worrying, Dr. Jeremy Coplan from SUNY Downstate Medical center and his colleagues found. This sugge...

Scientists have succeeded in pointing out the parts of the brain that are essential for intellectual functions, the Science Daily reported Tuesday. (MCT) A multi-national study found out that coordinated works of several brain areas are necessary in order to process a thought. Lead researcher Aron Barbey said the brain’s ability to add up all the information from verbal, visual, spatial and ex...

A tsunami watch was issued for countries across the Indian Ocean after a massive earthquake hit waters off Indonesia on Wednesday, triggering widespread panic as residents along coastlines fled to high ground in cars and on the backs of motorcycles. This satellite image released by DigitalGlobe shows an overview taken Jan. 2, 2005 of southern Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia after the Indian Ocean...

The Democratic United Party has blasted Saenuri Party officials over a “vulgar” satirical play staged eight years ago in a counterattack to the ruling party’s recent criticism of an outspoken DUP candidate. A scene from the play "Hwansaeng Gyeongje" (Image grab from a Youtube video) Ahead of Wednesday’s parliamentary elections, the Saenuri Party and conservative media have been escalating their...

Russia is developing weapons that can bend minds and put people in a zombie-like state, the Daily Mail reported last Saturday. (MCT) Prime Minister and President-elect Vladimir Putin has confirmed that his country’s scientists are working on guns that emit electromagnetic radiation (EMR). He claims that the new weapons will be “more acceptable in terms of political and military ideology” than n...

Image of the Yongbyon, North Korea nuclear reactor site in March 2002. (MCT) U.S., Japan renew warning; N. Korea vows to go ahead with launch; Manila to divert flights to shun debris North Korea hinted on Wednesday that it could conduct a third nuclear test if the U.S. and its allies put additional sanctions on the North over its planned rocket launch in mid-April. The Chosun Shinbo, a newspap...

(MCT image) French researchers have developed a technology to “cloak” objects from heat, BBC reported Tuesday. The idea of this “thermal cloak” is to re-direct heat so certain areas will be protected from heat, according to the study published on online optic journal Optic Express. The cloak will have 20 rings of material with the diffusivity to transmit or dissipate heat. The heat that enter...

A group of British scientists have discovered that a certain part of the brain is larger in people that have many friends, Science Daily reported Saturday. The size of the brain’s orbital prefrontal cortex -- placed just above the eyes -- is linked to people’s ability to understand what others are thinking, or to “mentalize,” according to a joint study by the Universities of Oxford, Liverpool Un...

(MCT image) A new hotel program in the Netherlands offers guests a clean, speedy break-up with their spouses, the BBC reported. In the “divorce hotel,” couples can relax at the bar or in the sauna before meeting with their mediators. Mediators and psychologists with the programs say it allows their clients to settle their differences and “pick up their lives again” within three days. Hotel psy...

(MCT image) A group of U.S. scientists have succeeded in artificially manipulating memories in mice brains, offering possibility for weakening harmful thoughts in mental patients, Science Daily reported Thursday. It has been known that stimulating certain parts of the brain can induce behaviors or memories, but the mechanism behind those memory functions has remained a mystery. Now a new study...

Reaching her 14th birthday is special for any child, but it was even more so for Hayley Okenes: It meant that she defied her own death sentence. Hayley Okines Hayley suffers from a rare genetic condition called progeria, which makes her body age eight times faster than the average person. It means that this wide-eyed teenager has the body of a 100-year-old, making her vulnerable to age-related...

(MCT image) A group of U.S. scientists have discovered how a mutation in a particular gene can lead to uncontrolled eating, which can lead to obesity, Science Daily reported Sunday. Previous studies have revealed that the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene is linked to obesity, but no one could explain how it controls the impulse to eat. Georgetown university researchers discovered ...