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Lynn Scarlett is global managing director for policy at The Nature Conservancy. She contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. In Davos, Switzerland, at the 2016 World Economic Forum annual meeting, industry leaders focused on what they call the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Whereas the First Industrial Revolution used steam and waterpower in manufacturing, the second used electricity to power factories, allowing production on a much larger scale. [Read More]

People without a certain gene may recover better from strokes and other traumatic brain injuries than people with the gene, a new study suggests. The gene — called CCR5 — is the same gene at the center of the recent CRISPR babies controversy, in which a Chinese scientist edited the gene out of two embryos to make babies who were resistant to HIV. People who don't have the CCR5 gene do show resistance to HIV — and indeed, an HIV drug called Maraviroc works by blocking the CCR5 receptor. [Read More]

Hundreds of yellow, fluffy blobs of mystery material have washed up on the shores of northern France in the past week. The balls of goo have been found along many miles of the English Channel coastline, according to the Sea-Mer Association, a nonprofit organization that protects coastlines from pollution. [Photos: Weird Yellow Fluff Balls Wash Up on French Beaches] The mysterious yellow clumps look like sponges, very unappetizing hunks of butterscotch mousse or possibly the biggest balls of earwax ever. [Read More]

Some doctors balk at the idea of trying to change a patient's personality, but a new study suggests that they're doing it already. The results show that talk therapy or psychiatric medications can change personality in healthy people and those with psychological disorders. What's more, changes can be relativity rapid, occurring over a four- to seven-month period, and long-lasting, continuing years after therapy, according to the study. Most mental health professionals don't think about psychiatric treatments as a means of changing personality — they view treatments as a way to change behavior, said study researcher Brent Roberts, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. [Read More]

Psychiatrists are the least religious of all physicians, a nationwide survey reveals. The study, published in the September issue of the journal Psychiatric Services, also found that religious physicians are more likely to refer patients to a clergy person than a psychiatrist or psychologist. "Something about psychiatry, perhaps its historical ties to psychoanalysis and the anti-religious views of the early analysts such as Sigmund Freud, seems to dissuade religious medical students from choosing to specialize in this field," [Read More]

Around Jesus' time about 2,000 years ago, a toddler in Roman-era Europe was laid to rest in a burial containing a funeral banquet and a pet dog wearing a belled collar, according to the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP). Researchers don't yet know whether the puppy died of natural causes or whether it was killed to accompany the toddler into the afterlife. Archaeologists discovered the toddler's burial by the Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport in central France, calling the find " [Read More]

More young people are flocking to tattoo parlors to get inked under the impression that it no longer has to be forever. Some experts believe that the demand for removal technology in the future may grow exponentially, creating a greater need for qualified dermatologists. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, tattoo regrets are common — in fact, 17 percent of those who get tattoos consider getting them removed. Now with the availability of tattoo laser removal and the introduction of new ink that can be more easily removed, tattoos are starting to mark a phase in someone's life rather than becoming a permanently inked statement. [Read More]

A new 3D-printing technique can create tissues as soft as a human's squishy brain or spongy lungs — something that has not been possible before. "Additive manufacturing," or 3D printing, promises to allow doctors to produce tailored organs for patients using the patients' own cells, which could help bring down the severe shortage of organs available for people who need transplants. However, the technology still has significant limitations. To create these organs, bioengineers need to 3D print scaffolds that mimic the structure of the organs, which are then populated with the cells. [Read More]

SAN FRANCISCO -- An unusually smooth and swiftly growing lava dome within the crater of Washington state's Mount St. Helens volcano is an extraordinary and perplexing event with an unknown outcome, geologists said Tuesday. The dome has been building at a steady clip for about two months now as molten rock boils up from deep below. While no major eruptions are expected in the near term, the dome's construction can be likened to a runaway freight train in terms of the steady forces involved, scientists said. [Read More]

Because positron emission tomography is a mouthful, radiologists call it a PET scan for short. Doctors often use the diagnostic exam often to detect cancer and measure the effects of cancer treatment. The test can also monitor blood flow to the heart and hunt for signs of coronary artery disease. In patients with memory disorders, doctors use PET scans of the brain to look for brain tumors that can be surgically removed. [Read More]