Hot chocolate can improve memory, study finds

Hot chocolate can help older people keep their brains healthy, research has shown.

Two cups of cocoa a day boosted blood flow to the brain and improved the memories of volunteers with narrowed arteries

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PRESIDENT OF IRELAND YOUNG RESEARCHER AWARD (PIYRA)

The President of Ireland Young Researcher Award (PIYRA) is Science Foundation Ireland's most prestigious award to recruit and retain early career researchers to carry out their research in Ireland. This programme emphasises the importance that Science Foundation Ireland places on the early development of academic careers.

Read more at the website of the Science Foundation

Carry on camping - can a week under canvas reset our body clocks?

Researchers say that camping for a week can reset the biological clock that governs our sleeping patterns.

The scientists argue that modern life disrupts our sleep through exposure to electric light and reduced access to sunlight.

But after spending time in the great outdoors, the researchers say the body clocks of eight volunteers synchronised with sunrise and sunset.

The research has been published in the journal Current Biology....

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How the brain keeps eyes focused on long-term goals

As anyone who has travelled with young children knows, maintaining focus on distant goals can be a challenge. A new study from MIT suggests how the brain achieves this task, and indicates that the neurotransmitter dopamine may signal the value of long-term rewards. The findings may also explain why patients with Parkinson’s disease — in which dopamine signalling is impaired — often have difficulty in sustaining motivation to finish tasks.
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Apes Capable of 'Mental Time Travel'

A single cue—the taste of a madeleine, a small cake, dipped in lime tea—was all Marcel Proust needed to be transported down memory lane. He had what scientists term an autobiographical memory of the events, a type of memory that many researchers consider unique to humans. Now, a new study argues that at least two species of great apes, chimpanzees and orangutans, have a similar ability
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ScienceShot: Some Young Planets May Be Mirages

Planets emit no light of their own, so observers hunting for worlds orbiting other stars usually detect them indirectly. Now, one such technique has come under fire. The gravity of a planet circling a star in a dusty disk can carve gaps in the disk. But as researchers report online today in Nature, if the disk harbors as much gas as dust, the gas can cause the dust to clump into rings with sharp edges—even in the absence of planets

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Science and social media: a case study

More and more scientists are embracing social media.

Many are on twitter and Facebook, others write blogs and share images using Instagram and flickr.

But what value does this have? Are there any rewards or positive outcomes to be gained by scientists through delving into these relatively new and sometimes scary online platforms?

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