
Newfound Exoplanet May Turn to Dust: Planet’s Dust Cloud May Explain Strange Patterns of Light from Its Star
Researchers have detected a
possible planet, some 1,500 light
years away, that appears to be
evaporating under the blistering
heat of its parent star. The
scientists infer that a long tail
... > full story
- more on:

'Rare' Genetic Variants Are Surprisingly Common, Life Scientists Report
A large survey of human genetic
variation shows that rare genetic
variants are not so rare after
all, and offers insights into
human diseases. A team of
scientists studied 202 genes in
14,002 people -- one of the
... > full story
- more on:

How Exercise Affects the Brain: Age and Genetics Play a Role
Findings suggest that the effects
of exercise on memory depend on
the age of the exerciser;
underlying genetic mechanisms
matter, too. ... > full story
- more on:

Intricate, Often Invisible Land-Sea Ecological Chains of Life Threatened With Extinction Around the World
Intricate, often invisible chains
of life are threatened with
extinction around the world. A new
study quantifies one of the
longest such chains ever
documented. ... > full story
- more on:

Quantum Physicists Show a Small Amount of Randomness Can Be Amplified Without Limit
Once again quantum physics gives
us philosophical implications:
physicists have shown how a small
amount of randomness can be
amplified without limit. ... > full story
- more on:

Pollination With Precision: How Flowers Do It
Pollination could be a chaotic
disaster. With hundreds of pollen
grains growing long tubes to
ovules to deliver their sperm to
female gametes, how can a flower
ensure that exactly two fertile
sperm reach every ovule?
Biologists report the discovery of
... > full story
- more on:

Chemists Merge Experimentation With Theory in Understanding of Water Molecule
Using newly developed imaging
technology, chemists have
confirmed years of theoretical
assumptions about water molecules,
the most abundant and one of the
most frequently studied substances
... > full story
- more on:

Ancient History of Circumarctic Peoples Illuminated
Scientists have discovered new
information about the migration
patterns of the first humans to
settle the Americas. The studies
identify the historical
relationships among various groups
of Native American and First
... > full story
- more on:

Slew of Rare DNA Changes Following Population Explosion May Hold Clues to Common Diseases
Scientists have taken a first step
toward understanding how rare
genetic differences among people
contribute to leading chronic
illnesses. One-letter DNA code
changes occur frequently in human
... > full story
- more on:

Suspicion Resides in Two Regions of the Brain: Our Baseline Level of Distrust Is Distinct and Separable from Our Inborn Lie Detector
Scientists have found that
suspicion resides in two distinct
regions of the brain: the
amygdala, which plays a central
role in processing fear and
emotional memories, and the
... > full story
- more on:

RNA Modification Influences Thousands of Genes: Revolutionizes Understanding of Gene Expression
Over the past decade, research in
the field of epigenetics has
revealed that chemically modified
bases are abundant components of
the human genome and has forced us
to abandon the notion we've had
... > full story
- more on:

Giant Galaxy-Packed Filament Revealed
Astronomers have discovered a
giant, galaxy-packed filament
ablaze with billions of new stars.
The filament is the first
structure of its kind spied in a
critical era of cosmic buildup
when colossal collections of
galaxies called superclusters
... > full story
- more on:
Roll over headlines to view top news summaries:
- Newfound Exoplanet May Turn to Dust
- 'Rare' Genetic Variants Surprisingly Common
- How Exercise Affects the Brain
- Fragile Land-Sea Ecological Chains At Risk
- How Quantum Physicists Amplify Randomness
- Pollination With Precision: How Flowers Do It
- Geometry of Bonding Water Molecules
- Ancient History of Circumarctic Peoples
- Slew of Rare DNA Changes After Population Jump
- Suspicion Resides in Two Regions of the Brain
- RNA Modification Influences 1000s of Genes
- Giant Galaxy-Packed Filament Revealed
- more top science stories
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Top Medical News
Sutureless Aortic Valve Replacement a North American First
A surgical milestone was reached on May 1st with a sutureless aortic valve replacement through a thoracic incision just 5 centimeters long. The two patients in their seventies who underwent this innovative procedure were doing well only one week ... > full story
Top Technology News
Functional Coatings from the Plasma Nozzle
These coatings offer protection against rust, scratches and moisture and also improve adhesion: Surfaces with a nano coating. A new plasma process enables these coatings to be applied more easily and cost-efficiently -- on an industrial ... > full story
Top Environment News
New Key Mechanism in Cell Division Discovered
Researchers have identified the mechanism by which protein Zds1 regulates a key function in mitosis, the process that occurs immediately before cell division. The research opens the door to developing targeted and direct therapies against ... > full story
More Science Headlines
Updated 2 hours 15 minutes ago | Next update in 45 minutes
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8 pm EDT
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Health Experts Narrow the Hunt for Ebola
May 16, 2012 Response efforts to outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Africa can benefit from a standardized sampling strategy that focuses on the carcasses of gorillas, chimpanzees and other species known to succumb to the virus, according to wildlife health ... > full story -
Risk Factor Management Helps Prevent Migraine Attacks
May 17, 2012 The latest genetic and biological research shows that migraine is a neurological, not vascular, disorder and both acute and preventive treatments being developed target peripheral and central nervous systems, according to a prominent migraine ... > full story -
Fighting Bacteria’s Strength in Numbers
May 17, 2012 Scientists have opened the way for more accurate research into new ways to fight dangerous bacterial infections by proving a long-held theory about how bacteria communicate with each ... > full story -
Hormone-Depleting Drug Shows Promise Against Localized High-Risk Prostate Tumors
May 16, 2012 Researchers have demonstrated that a hormone-depleting drug approved for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer can help eliminate or nearly eliminate tumors in many patients with aggressive cancers that have yet to spread beyond the prostate, ... > full story -
Phase I Study of Temsirolimus, Capecitabine Appears Safe; Positive Survival Trend Seen
May 16, 2012 A Phase I clinical trial examining the safety of combining temsirolimus and capecitabine in advanced malignancies suggests the two agents can be given safely to patients. In addition researchers conducting the study in cancer patients whose tumors ... > full story
5 pm EDT
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Clergy Can Fight HIV on Faith-Friendly Terms
May 16, 2012 In the United States, where blacks bear a disproportionate burden of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, black religious institutions could help turn the tide. In a new study based on dozens of interviews and focus groups with 38 of Philadelphia's most ... > full story -
Pharmacology; Diseases and Conditions; Healthy Aging; Foodborne Illness; Alzheimer's Research; Cancer;
Potential New Drugs for Fox Tapeworm Infection in Humans
May 16, 2012 Scientists are reporting development and testing of a new series of drugs that could finally stop the fox tapeworm -- which causes a rare but life-threatening disease in humans -- dead in its tracks. The report shows that specific organometallic ... > full story -
Religion Is a Potent Force for Cooperation and Conflict, Research Shows
May 17, 2012 Across history and cultures, religion increases trust within groups but also may increase conflict with other groups, according to a new ... > full story -
Babies' Susceptibility to Colds Linked to Immune Response at Birth
May 17, 2012 Innate differences in immunity can be detected at birth, according to new research. And babies with a better innate response to viruses have fewer respiratory illnesses in the first year of ... > full story -
Forest Diversity from Canada to the Sub-Tropics Influenced by Family Proximity
May 17, 2012 How species diversity is maintained is a fundamental question in biology. Biologists have shown for the first time that diversity is influenced on a spatial scale of unparalleled scope, in part, by how well tree seedlings survive under their own ... > full story
2 pm EDT
-
Prosthetic Retina Offers Simple Solution for Restoring Sight
May 17, 2012 A device which could restore sight to patients with one of the most common causes of blindness in the developed world is being ... > full story -
New Technique Reveals Unseen Information in DNA Code
May 17, 2012 Scientists have used a new technique to map 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) in DNA from human and mouse embryonic stem cells, revealing new information about their patterns of distribution. These studies have revealed ... > full story -
Pain Relief Through Distraction: It's Not All in Your Head
May 17, 2012 Mental distractions make pain easier to take, and those pain-relieving effects aren't just in your head, according to a new ... > full story -
Extended Daily Fasting Overrides Harmful Effects of a High-Fat Diet: Study May Offer Drug-Free Intervention to Prevent Obesity and Diabetes
May 17, 2012 It turns out that when we eat may be as important as what we eat. Scientists have found that regular eating times and extending the daily fasting period may override the adverse health effects of a high-fat diet and prevent obesity, diabetes and ... > full story -
Ancient Giant Turtle Fossil Was Size of Smart Car
May 17, 2012 Picture a turtle the size of a Smart car, with a shell large enough to double as a kiddie pool. Paleontologists have found just such a specimen -- the fossilized remains of a 60-million-year-old South American giant that lived in what is now ... > full story
11 am EDT
-
Parents Are Happier People: Parents Experience Greater Happiness and Meaning in Life Than Nonparents, Psychologists Find
May 17, 2012 Contrary to recent scholarship and popular belief, parents experience greater levels of happiness and meaning in life than people without children, according to researchers. Parents also are happier during the day when they are caring for their ... > full story -
1,000 Years of Climate Data Confirms Australia's Warming
May 17, 2012 In the first study of its kind in Australasia, scientists have used 27 natural climate records to create the first large-scale temperature reconstruction for the region over the last 1,000 ... > full story -
Unexpected Source for Diabetic Neuropathy Pain
May 15, 2012 Nearly half of all diabetics suffer from neuropathic pain, an intractable, agonizing and still mysterious companion of the disease. Now researchers have identified an unexpected source of the pain and a potential target to alleviate ... > full story -
Gene Therapy; Birth Defects; Children's Health; Diseases and Conditions; Personalized Medicine; Child Development;
Children With Rare, Incurable Brain Disease Improve After Gene Therapy
May 16, 2012 Taiwanese doctors have restored some movement in four children bedridden with a rare, life-threatening neurological disease using gene transfer. The first-in-humans achievement may also be helpful for more common diseases such as ... > full story -
Nutrition; Staying Healthy; Diet and Weight Loss; Public Health; Diseases and Conditions; Health Policy;
20 Percent 'Fat Tax' Needed to Improve Population Health, Experts Say
May 15, 2012 Taxes on unhealthy food and drinks would need to be at least 20 percent to have a significant effect on diet-related conditions such as obesity and heart disease, say experts on bmj.com today. Ideally, this should be combined with subsidies on ... > full story
8 am EDT
-
Damaged Connections in Phineas Gage's Brain: Famous 1848 Case of Man Who Survived Accident Has Modern Parallel
May 16, 2012 In 1848, Phineas Gage survived an accident that drove an iron rod through his head. Researchers, for the first time, used images of Gage’s skull combined with modern-day brain images to suggest there was extensive damage to the white matter ... > full story -
Cholesterol; Heart Disease; Diseases and Conditions; Vioxx; Personalized Medicine; Stroke Prevention;
Not All 'Good Cholesterol' Is 'Good': Raising HDL Not a Sure Route to Countering Heart Disease
May 16, 2012 Medical researchers explored naturally occurring genetic variations in humans to test the connection between HDL levels and heart attack. By studying the genes of roughly 170,000 individuals, the team discovered that, when examined together, the 15 ... > full story -
Mating and Breeding; Wild Animals; Genetics; Developmental Biology; Evolutionary Biology; Extreme Survival;
Bats: A Good Immune System Ensures Success in Reproduction
May 16, 2012 Anyone who is healthy has more enthusiasm for reproduction. The same is true even for bats. Male bats with a good immune system are more successful in being selected by females during mate choice and reproduction than their ailing ... > full story -
The Rhine Is Five Million Years Older Than First Thought: Age of the River Corrected Based on Fossils
May 16, 2012 Scientists have examined the age of the Rhine based on fossils. They have discovered that the river is five million years older than previously ... > full story -
Children With Cancer Have Complete Responses in a COG Phase 1 Trial: Pills Zero in on Abnormal Genes That Drive Specific Cancers
May 16, 2012 A pill designed to zero in on abnormal genes that drive specific cancers has produced encouraging early results in children with an uncommon but aggressive type of lymphoma, as well as in children with a rare form of ... > full story
5 am EDT
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Nine New Breast Cancer Risk Genes: Landscape of Cancer Genes and Mutational Processes in Breast Cancer Complicated
May 16, 2012 Researchers have described nine new genes that drive the development of breast cancer. This takes the tally of all genes associated with breast cancer development to ... > full story -
Make or Break for Cellular Tissues
May 16, 2012 Models developed to study liquids are used to investigate the mechanics of cellular tissues, which could further our understanding of embryonic development and cancer. Scientists have demonstrated that the behavior of a thin layer of cells in ... > full story -
Sunscreens Remain Safe, Effective Form of Sun Protection, Experts Say
May 15, 2012 The American Academy of Dermatology today reiterated the safety and effectiveness of sunscreens to protect against the damaging effects from exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. As one component of a daily sun-protection strategy, sunscreen is an ... > full story -
Health Policy; HIV and AIDS; Public Health; Diseases and Conditions; World Development; Sexual Health;
740,000 Lives Saved: Benefits of AIDS Relief Program
May 15, 2012 The US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the government's far-reaching health-care foreign aid program, has contributed to a significant decline in adult death rates from all causes in Africa, according to a new ... > full story -
Big-Mouthed Babies Drove the Evolution of Giant Island Snakes
May 15, 2012 The need to have big-mouthed babies drove the evolution of giant tiger snakes on Australian islands, new research shows. The findings offer a new dimension to the study of island gigantism and ... > full story
2 am EDT
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Why Omega-3 Oils Help at the Cellular Level
May 15, 2012 For the first time, researchers have peered inside a living mouse cell and mapped the processes that power the celebrated health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids. More profoundly, they say their findings suggest it may be possible to manipulate these ... > full story -
High Doses of Certain Dietary Supplements Increase Cancer Risk
May 15, 2012 Beta-carotene, selenium and folic acid -- taken up to three times their recommended daily allowance, these supplements are probably harmless. But taken at much higher levels as some supplement manufacturers suggest, these three supplements have now ... > full story -
New Biomarker Test Predicts Arthritis Before Symptoms Appear
May 15, 2012 A research team has found a way to detect and predict arthritis before patients begin suffering from ... > full story -
All Cancer Cells Are Not Created Equal: Some Cell Types Control Continued Tumor Growth, Others Prepare the Way for Metastasis
May 15, 2012 New researchers suggests that specific populations of tumor cells have different roles in the process by which tumors make new copies of themselves and ... > full story -
Ancient Plant-Fungal Partnerships Reveal How the World Became Green
May 15, 2012 Prehistoric plants grown in state-of-the-art growth chambers recreating environmental conditions from more than 400 million years ago have shown scientists how soil dwelling fungi played a crucial role in the evolution of ... > full story
11 pm EDT
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Protein Inhibitor Points to Potential Medical Treatments for Skull and Skin Birth Defects
May 15, 2012 Researchers have found new clues in the pathogenesis of skull and skin birth defects associated with a rare genetic disorder, Beare-Stevenson cutis gyrata syndrome ... > full story -
Maps of Miscanthus Genome Offer Insight Into Grass Evolution
May 15, 2012 Miscanthus grasses are used in gardens, burned for heat and energy, and converted into liquid fuels. They also belong to a prominent grass family that includes corn, sorghum and sugarcane. Two new, independently produced chromosome maps of ... > full story -
Getting in Tune: Researchers Solve Tuning Problem for Wireless Power Transfer Systems
May 15, 2012 Researchers have developed a new way to fine-tune wireless power transfer (WPT) receivers, making the systems more efficient and functional. WPT systems hold promise for charging electric vehicles, electronic devices and other ... > full story -
The Use of Acoustic Inversion to Estimate the Bubble Size Distribution in Pipelines
May 15, 2012 New research has devised a new method to more accurately measure gas bubbles in pipelines. The ability to measure gas bubbles in pipelines is vital to the manufacturing, power and petrochemical industries. In the case of harvesting petrochemicals ... > full story -
Spurious Switching Points in Traded Stock Dynamics
May 15, 2012 A selection of biased statistical subsets could yield an inaccurate interpretation of market behaviour and financial returns. Physicists have rebuffed the existence of power laws governing the dynamics of traded stock volatility, volume and ... > full story
Health & Biomedical Sciences
Health & Medicine
Study Combines Lapatinib With Cetuximab to Overcome Resistance in EGFR-Driven Tumors, New Research Suggests
Targeted therapies have been studied for years, but recent laboratory research is providing robust clues about drugs that might work better in combination, particularly in treating cancers that have become resistant to therapy. That kind of ... > full story
- 'Fertilizing' Bone Marrow Helps Answer Why Some Cancers Spread to Bones
- Air Pollution Level Changes in Beijing Linked With Biomarkers of Cardiovascular Disease
- New Look at Prolonged Radiation Exposure: At Low Dose-Rate, Radiation Poses Little Risk to DNA, Study Suggests
- Drugs from Gila Monster Lizard Saliva Reduces Cravings for Chocolate and Ordinary Food
- more stories
Mind & Brain
Can Consumers 'Fit In' Yet Remain Unique?
Most consumers want to fit in while still asserting their individuality -- and they balance these conflicting desires when choosing products, according to a new ... > full story
- Trusting Tiger Woods: How Do Facial Cues Affect Preference and Trust?
- Alzheimer's Gene Causes Brain's Blood Vessels to Leak Toxins and Die
- OMG! Texting Ups Truthfulness, New iPhone Study Suggests
- 'Gaydar' Automatic and More Accurate for Women's Faces; Accurate Even When Faces Were Upside Down, Psychologists Find
- more stories
Living Well
Foul-Mouthed Characters in Teen Books Have It All
Analysis of best-selling teen novels shows that readers come across seven instances of profanity per hour spent reading, and the characters who cuss are usually rich, beautiful and ... > full story
Biological & Earth Sciences
Plants & Animals
Biologists Produce Potential Malarial Vaccine from Algae
Biologists have succeeded in engineering algae to produce potential candidates for a vaccine that would prevent transmission of the parasite that causes ... > full story
Earth & Climate
Unparalleled Views of Earth's Coastal Zone With HREP-HICO
Scanning the globe from the vantage point of the International Space Station is about more than the fantastic view. While cruising in low Earth orbit, the space station HICO and RAIDS Experiment Payload-Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean, or ... > full story
- Listening to Chickens Could Improve Poultry Production
- Humanmade Pollutants May Be Driving Earth's Tropical Belt Expansion: May Impact Large-Scale Atmospheric Circulation
- Sumatra Faces Yet Another Risk: Major Volcanic Eruptions
- Colorful Butterflies Increase Their Odds of Survival by Sharing Traits
- more stories
Fossils & Ruins
Ancient Tree-Ring Records from Southwest U.S. Suggest Today's Megafires Are Truly Unusual
Today's mega forest fires of the southwestern U.S. are truly unusual and exceptional in the long-term record, suggests an unprecedented study that examined 1,500 years of ancient tree ring and fire data from two distinct climate periods. Researchers ... > full story
Physical & Applied Sciences
Space & Time
Hinode Mission to Capture Annular Solar Eclipse This Weekend
On May 20-21, 2012 an annular eclipse of the Sun will be visible from within a narrow corridor along Earth's northern Hemisphere -- beginning in eastern Asia, crossing the North Pacific Ocean, and ending in the western United States. A partial ... > full story
Matter & Energy
Ultra-Short Laser Pulses for Science and Industry
The shorter the pulse duration, the more precisely the laser tool operates. Ultra-short laser pulses of outstanding high average püower are opening the doors to new applications in high throughput materials processing. Thanks to the short pulse ... > full story
Computers & Math
Facebook and Smartphones: New Tools for Psychological Science Research
Whether you're an iPerson who can't live without a Mac, a Facebook addict, or a gamer, you know that social media and technology say things about your personality and thought processes. And psychological scientists know it too -- they've started ... > full story
- People With Paralysis Control Robotic Arms to Reach and Grasp Using Brain Computer Interface
- Elusive Capacity of Networks: Calculating Data Network's Total Capacity Notoriously Difficult, but Theorists Making Some Headway
- Statistical Analysis Projects Future Temperatures in North America
- New Research Could Mean Faster Computers and Better Smart Phones
- more stories

