Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is known to increase the chances of causing an accident. For instance, marijuana can impair drivers’ reaction time. But what about drowsiness? As many as a third of all fatal car crashes might involve fatigued drivers, according to research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And [...]

Most people will say they’re good drivers when asked. But that confidence doesn’t keep them from wanting new automobiles loaded with the latest in driver-assist technology for avoiding accidents. Ford Motor Company presented these findings Tuesday at a press conference to talk up the 2013 Fusion mid-size sedan and its abundance of new driver-assist features. [...]

Debate about older adults’ driving skills often touches on obvious impairments, such as failing vision and heavy medication use. But a new study suggests a deeper neurological explanation for why seniors have a hard time spotting obvious objects on the road: They might actually just be better at perceiving large-scale movement in the background, an [...]

Each year, Independence Day arrives with an array of festivities that make us vulnerable to a number of potential hazards: bug bites, burns from backyard grills, food poisoning from cookouts, and injuries from fireworks. But driving? The thought of possibly getting in a car accident at this time of year probably doesn’t even cross your [...]

My favorite element of the electric grid is the method by which it gathers information about power outages. It seems the electric utilities have legions of trained mammals, and when power goes out, mammals in different areas press buttons, and the buttons make a bell ring at the utilities. For pressing the right button the [...]

At their most fundamental level, brains are made up of neurons. And those neurons collectively comprise the two main types of brain tissue: white matter is made up primarily of axons, and grey matter is made up of synapses, or the connections between neurons. (Want a primer on the neuron? Check out this explainer post [...]