As holidays near, people are sneaking shakes of their presents to try to figure out what they're getting. But present shakers might be a little less sly than they think. New research shows it's incredibly easy for people watching others shake boxes to tell what they're up to. 'There are few things more delightful than seeing a child's eyes light up as they pick up a present and wonder what might be inside,' said author Chaz Firestone, a Johns Hopkins University assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences who investigates how vision and thought interact. 'What our work shows is that your mind is able to track the information they are seeking. Just as they might be able to tell what's inside the box by shaking it around, you can tell what they are trying to figure out when they shake it.'
Read more …Science sheds light on shaking your holiday presents
A number of diseases are caused by proteins that have spun out of control. Unfortunately, so far, conventional drugs have been able to stop only a fraction of these troublemakers. A new class of drugs known as PROTACs holds great promise in pharmaceutical research. They mark proteins for targeted degradation by the cell's own protein disposal system.
Read more …New way to force pathogenic proteins into degradation