Developed more than 200 years ago and found in households around the world, chlorine bleach is among the most widely used disinfectants, yet scientists never have understood exactly how this familiar…

Humans would never agree that elections sometimes come down to looks.   Science disagrees.   Some argue that Barack Obama won because he looks younger and healthier than John McCain while…

Two clones of highly antibiotic-resistant organism strains, which previously had only been identified in the United States, are now causing serious sickness and death in several Colombian cities…

Is there anything that Google can't do? An article in the NY Times ("Google Uses Searches to Track Flu's Spread") by Miguel Helft reports that Google may be able to detect outbreaks of influenza up…

There's no question that the World Wide Web is a much different beast today than it was during the election of 2000.   Yes, it was even then a communication medium but it was primarily a way to…

Actually, today it's tea because I need to go easy on the caffeine. Here's what's interesting in science around the web this week: Where did hobbits come from? Not the hobbits in the Shire, but Homo…

An infrared camera aboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft has discovered a unique aurora lighting up Saturn's polar cap. The mysterious new aurora is unlike any other known in our solar system. "We've…

Archaeologists have made a discovery in Egypt, which fills in a missing piece of history in the Old Kingdom ancient burial ground of Saqqara.  The newest discovery, found in the sand south of…

My feeling about science news reports is decidedly mixed. On the one hand, I read most of the main news services in order to keep up with research outside of my own discipline. On the other hand, I…

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder(OCD) affects as much as 2 % of the population and is considered a psychiatric disorder. It is the number four psychiatric pathology in terms of frequency following…

The HPV vaccine, sold as Gardasil in the U.S., is intended to prevent four strains of the human papillomavirus, the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world. The vaccine also prevents…

A team of Princeton University scientists say they have discovered that chains of proteins found in most living organisms act like adaptive machines, possessing the ability to control their own…

Blood levels of resistin, a hormone produced by fat cells, can independently predict an individual's risk of heart failure, cardiologists at Emory University School of Medicine have found. Their…

Evidence that global warming is causing the worldwide declines of amphibians may not be as conclusive as previously thought, according to biologists whose findings contradict two widely held views…

Scientists from the universities of Leicester and Cambridge and from the British Geological Survey have published new research in the journal Geology this month shedding new light on a 500-million…

There's a perception that people who immigrate to the US from China, or whose parents did, the so-called "Chinese-Americans", are all wildly successful and well educated. And they are, unless they…

Indoor and outdoor pollutants can rapidly harm the heart in ways different than outdoor air pollution alone, according to a new study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions…

Dishonesty may be more widespread in the animal kingdom than previously thought. A team of Australian ecologists has discovered that some male fiddler crabs “lie” about their fighting ability by…

A high proportion of people are not using condoms when they have sex with a new partner, according to a new study of heterosexual partnerships among British men and women - but it's not teenagers, it…

A third-year undergraduate student, Hayley Frend, at The University of Nottingham has had her research into the sex life of the pond snail published in the peer-reviewed journal Royal Society Journal…