The ongoing transition from nomadic cultures to settled lifestyles and intensifying agriculture has led to a steep drop not only in the use of fire on local lands but in the prevalence of fire worldwide, researchers found. Globally, the total acreage burned by fires each year declined by 24 percent between 1998 and 2015, according to a new paper in Science that analyzes NASA's satellite data, as well as population and socioeconomic information. The decline in burned lands was largest in savannas and grasslands, where fires are essential for maintaining healthy ecosystems and habitat conservation. Readmore

Researchers have examined the available literature for the effects of acute and chronic administration of cocoa flavanols on different cognitive domains. It turns out that cognitive performance was improved by a daily intake of cocoa flavanols. It has to be noted though, that the effects depended on the length and mental load of the used cognitive tests to measure the effect of acute cocoa consumption. In young and healthy adults, for example, a high demanding cognitive test was required to uncover the subtle immediate behavioral effects that cocoa flavanols have on this group.

The effects of relatively long-term ingestion of cocoa flavanols (ranging from 5 days up to 3 months) has generally been investigated in elderly individuals. It turns out that for them cognitive performance was improved by a daily intake of cocoa flavanols. Factors such as attention, processing speed, working memory, and verbal fluency were greatly affected. These effects were, however, most pronounced in older adults with a starting memory decline or other mild cognitive impairments. Readmore

Researchers from York University discovered that, if worker and queen honeybees exposed to field realistic levels of neonicotinoids die sooner and reducing the health of the entire colony. The researchers were also surprised to find that the neonicotinoid contaminated pollen collected by the honeybees came not from crops grown from neonicotinoid treated seeds, but plants growing in areas adjacent to those crops. This is season-long, field realistic research with typical exposure. Readmore

It's common for people to pack on more pounds as they age, but now a new study may have an explanation for this weight gain — and it has nothing to do with exercise or poor food choices. Researchers identified an enzyme that appears to increase its activity in animals as they age. The increase in this enzyme's activity may play a role in the weight gain and fitness decline that come with aging, they said. In experiments in mice on a high-fat diet, the researchers found that mice that had this enzyme blocked gained less weight than normal mice. Our society attributes the weight gain and lack of exercise at mid-life … primarily to poor lifestyle choices and lack of will power," study author Dr. Jay Chung, head of the Laboratory of Obesity and Aging Research at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, said in a statement. "But this study shows that there is a genetic program driven by an overactive enzyme that promotes weight gain and loss of exercise capacity at mid-life," Chung said. [The Best Way to Keep Weight Off]

Because the new study was conducted in mice, researchers don't yet know if blocking this enzyme in humans will have the same effect. But the researchers said that, with more research, the findings could potentially lead to the development of new weight loss medications that would block this enzyme.

 Read more from the Journal Cell Metabolism.

It looks like lemonade, tastes like lemonade, but it's simply water. Researchers in Singapore say they have invented”virtual lemonade", using electrodes to mimic the flavor of the beverage and LED lights to imitate its color, that could one day allow people to digitally share drinks over the internet. Read more

Ghana, Kenya and Malawi will pilot the world's first malaria vaccine from 2018, offering it for babies and children in high-risk areas as part of real-life trials, the World Health Organization said on Monday.The injectable vaccine, called RTS,S or Mosquirix, was developed by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline to protect children from the most deadly form of malaria in Africa. In clinical trials it proved only partially effective, and it needs to be given in a four-dose schedule, but is the first regulator-approved vaccine against the mosquito-borne disease. Read more

Using powerful supercomputers, astronomers at Durham University reveal further evidence of the existence of dark matter – the mysterious substance that is believed to hold the Universe together. The scientists used computer models to simulate the formation of galaxies in the presence of dark matter and were able to demonstrate that their size and rotation speed were linked to their brightness in a similar way to observations made by astronomers. Read more

Researchers have created a simulator that predicts in less than 10 minutes the behaviour of tsunamis generated by landslides. The system reduces the time spent in calculating different situations up to 60 percent. With this simulator, it is possible to immediately obtain information and thus facilitate more effective performance of authorities and rescue teams. The numerical model developed by the researchers accurately predicts the effects of the wave and performs a simulation before the actual events in real life. The impact of a tsunami on the coast can range from 10 minutes to several hours from the time it occurs. The simulation takes between five and 10 minutes and provides information on the time it will take to land, the magnitude and height of the wave, the coastal penetration and the flood that it would cause, which allows researchers to anticipate the course of action that should be followed in each case. Read more