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Climate change-related landslides, storms and floods are associated with intimate partner violence against women two years after the event, according to a new study.

Scientists have made an enormous step toward understanding the human brain by building a neuron-by-neuron and synapse-by-synapse roadmap -- scientifically speaking, a 'connectome' -- through the brain of an adult fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster). Previous researchers have mapped the brain of a C. elegans worm, with its 302 neurons, and...

Dolphins are extremely playful, but little is known about how they -- and other marine mammals -- communicate during playtime. New research shows that bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncates) use the 'open mouth' facial expression -- analogous to a smile -- to communicate during social play. The dolphins almost always use...

U.S. tropical cyclones, including hurricanes, indirectly cause thousands of deaths for nearly 15 years after a storm. Researchers estimate an average U.S. tropical cyclone indirectly causes 7,000 to 11,000 excess deaths. All told, they estimate tropical storms since 1930 have contributed to between 3.6 million and 5.2 million deaths in...

A new study documents how Southern Californians are chronically being exposed to toxic airborne chemicals called plasticizers, including one that's been banned from children's items and beauty products.

A research team systematically analyzed 40 empirical studies, the majority of which had found that outdoor air pollution is associated with differences in children's brains. These differences include volumes of white matter, which is associated with cognitive function, connections throughout the brain and even early markers for Alzheimer's.

The genome inside each of our cells is modelled by tension and torsion -- due in part to the activity of proteins that compact, loop, wrap and untwist DNA -- but scientists know little about how those forces affect the transcription of genes. Transcription of a gene begins when RNAP...