|  The mystery of neutron stars heats up  | Until now, scientists were pretty sure they knew how the surface of a neutron star -- a super dense star that forms when a large star explodes and its core collapses into itself -- can heat itself up. However researchers rethinking that. | Read More » Comet ISON may have survived  | Continuing a history of surprising behavior, material from Comet ISON appeared on the other side of the sun on the evening on Nov. 28, 2013, despite not having been seen in observations during its closest approach to the sun. | Read More » Messy children make better learners: Toddlers learn words for nonsolids better when getting messy in a highchair  | Parents, let your children get messy in the high chair: They learn better that way. That's according to a new study which concludes that a 16-month-old's setting and degree of interaction enhances his or her ability to identify nonsolid objects and name them. | Read More » 'Nanosponge vaccine' fights MRSA toxins  | Nanosponges that soak up a dangerous pore-forming toxin produced by MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) could serve as a safe and effective vaccine against this toxin. This "nanosponge vaccine" enabled the immune systems of mice to block the adverse effects of the alpha-haemolysin toxin from MRSA -- both within the bloodstream and on the skin. | Read More » Study of young parents highlights links among stress, poverty, ethnicity  | An avalanche of chronic stress affecting poor mothers and fathers is revealed in new data from a comprehensive national, federally funded American study. | Read More » Human stem cells converted to functional lung cells  | For the first time, scientists have succeeded in transforming human stem cells into functional lung and airway cells. The advance has significant potential for modeling lung disease, screening drugs, studying human lung development, and, ultimately, generating lung tissue for transplantation. | Read More » How legless, leaping fish living on land avoids predators  | One of the world's strangest animals -- a legless, leaping fish that lives on land -- uses camouflage to avoid attacks by predators such as birds, lizards and crabs, new research shows. Researchers studied the unique fish -- Pacific leaping blennies -- in their natural habitat on the tropical island of Guam. These terrestrial fish spend all of their adult lives living on the rocks in the splash zone. | Read More » Junk food, poor oral health increase risk of premature heart disease  | The association between poor oral health and increased risk of cardiovascular disease should make the reduction of sugars such as those contained in junk food, particularly fizzy drinks, an important health policy target, say experts. | Read More » Researchers pinpoint superbug resistance protein  | Researchers have recently identified a resistance protein that allows a "superbug" to survive a disinfectant used in hospitals. | Read More » New evidence that gout strongly runs in family  | It's historically known as 'the king of diseases and the disease of kings' and was long thought to be caused by an overindulgent lifestyle, but now scientists have confirmed that gout strongly runs in families. | Read More » Marine reserves enhance resilience to climate change  | A new study highlights the potential for fish communities in marine reserves to resist climate change impacts better than communities on fished coasts. | Read More » Colon cancer researchers target stem cells, discover viable new therapeutic path  | A team of scientists and surgeons have discovered a promising new approach to treating colorectal cancer by disarming the gene that drives self-renewal in stem cells that are the root cause of disease, resistance to treatment and relapse. Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the Western world. | Read More » Why tumors become resistant to chemotherapy  | Researchers describe one of the causes that make a patient with colon cancer that responds well to initial chemotherapy, becomes resistant when the tumor reappears. | Read More » Parents' work hours in evenings, nights, weekends disadvantage children  | A comprehensive review of studies on parents' work schedules and child development spanning the last three decades shows that parents' work schedules in evenings, nights and weekends, so called "nonstandard work schedules" or "unsociable work hours", may have negative consequences for children. When parents work such hours, children tended to have more behavioral problems, poorer cognitive ability, and were more likely to be overweight or obese than children in families where parents mostly worked during the daytime hours and week day. | Read More » Corals surviving ocean's pollution  | Unlike other marine species, the corals are still capable of adapting under current circumstances of sea acidification. "The first models indicated that the coral reefs would disappear midcentury, but our study reveals that corals are adapting to the ocean's acidification that has increased since the industrial revolution", the head researcher notes. | Read More » Congenital heart defects affects long-term developmental outcome  | Approximately one percent of all newborns in Switzerland are diagnosed with a congenital heart defect, and roughly half of them require open heart surgery. Most children, including those with the most severe heart defects, survive because of the significant advancements in surgical techniques. Therefore, the current research focuses less on survival than on long-term consequences and quality of life of these children. | Read More » Detailed image shows how genomes are copied  | For the first time, researchers have succeeded in showing how the DNA polymerase epsilon enzyme builds new genomes. The detailed image produced by these researchers shows how mutations that can contribute to the development of colorectal cancer and cervical cancer lead to changes in the structure of the protein. | Read More » Forget the needle; consider the haystack  | Computer scientists have developed a method to uncover hidden patterns in huge data collections. Using a mathematical method that calculates the likelihood of a pattern repeating throughout a subset of data, the researchers have been able to cut dramatically the time needed to find patterns in large collections of information such as social networks. | Read More » Koalas' low-pitched voice explained by unique organ  | The pitch of male koalas' mating calls is about 20 times lower than it should be, given the Australian marsupial's relatively small size. Now, researchers have discovered their secret: koalas have a specialized sound-producing organ that has never before been seen in any other land-dwelling mammal. The key feature of this newly described organ is its location outside the voice box, what scientists call the larynx. | Read More » New algorithm finds you, even in untagged photos  | A new algorithm designed in Canada has the power to profoundly change the way we find photos among the billions on social media sites such as Facebook and Flickr. This month, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will issue a patent on this technology. The search tool uses tag locations to quantify relationships between individuals, even those not tagged in any given photo. | Read More » Amplifying our vision of the infinitely small  | Scientists have discovered a method to improve detection of the infinitely small. | Read More » Need inspiration? Let's get physical!  | People who exercise regularly are better at creative thinking. This is the outcome of research by a cognitive psychologist, as outlined in a recently published article. | Read More » Athletes and the words for actions  | Is it true, as some scientists believe, that to understand words like "spike" (in the volleyball sense) the brain has to "mentally" retrace the sequence of motor commands that accomplish the action? According to a study just published, the high-level motor expertise of subjects modulates the involvement of the brain motor areas in understanding the actions. The effect of experience is a novelty that challenges some recent hypotheses, making the theoretical picture more complex. | Read More » Why breed specific legislation does not protect public from dangerous dogs  | Research conducted by animal behaviour experts challenges the basis of breed specific legislation designed to protect the public from 'dangerous' dogs. | Read More » New means of growing intestinal stem cells  | Researchers have shown that they can grow unlimited quantities of intestinal stem cells, then stimulate them to develop into nearly pure populations of different types of mature intestinal cells. | Read More » Nanorobot for transporting drugs in the body  | The first step has been taken towards developing a nanorobot that -- in the long run -- will enable the targeted transport of medications in the body. | Read More » | |
