Scientists thought that most new genes were formed from existing genes, but Cornell researchers have discovered a gene in some fruit flies that appears to be unrelated to other genes in any known…

What do sand, coal, cereal, ice cubes, marbles, gravel, sugar, pills, and powders have in common" They are all granular materials, members of an unruly family of substances that refuse to completely…

A quarter of adult New Yorkers have elevated blood mercury levels, according to survey results released today by the Health Department, and the elevations are closely tied to fish consumption. Asian…

University of New South Wales (UNSW) researchers have uncovered an important naturally occurring mechanism in the body where "bad" cells that cause blockages in our blood vessels are kept under…

Obese girls are half as likely to attend college as non-obese girls, according to a new study from The University of Texas at Austin. The study also shows obese girls are even less likely to enter…

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed an improved version of a real-time magnetic microscopy system that converts evidence of tampering on magnetic audio and video tapes…

  It is important to realize that the way we power our vehicles today is based on the legacy of energy discoveries of the 1800s.  Oil was first taken out of the ground in Pennsylvania in…

Birds use songs to attract mates and mark their territory but according to University of Washington researchers, it's a naturally occurring steroid that improves their brains and not practice.…

Scientists at the Weizmann Institute have proposed a mechanism which explains the precision of prognoses for trinucleotide repeat diseases and say it may lead researchers in the direction of a…

People with serious cases of writer’s cramp have brain abnormalities, according to a study published in the July 24, 2007, issue of Neurology®. People with writer’s cramp had less brain tissue than…

Dr. Ronald Evans (Salk Institute) and colleagues have discovered that mutations in the mouse gene encoding PPARγ adversely affect lactation milk quality, and have serious health consequences for…

Improved sensing and detection to combat terrorism has brought the need for advanced defense technologies to the forefront and laser-based defense systems are now being designed for this need,…

The answer is, of course... it depends. But with gas prices as high as they are these days, it’s good to know when it’s worthwhile to drive a few miles to save five cents a gallon, or when it’s…

There are many objects in nature, such as flowers, that are “pre-programmed” to develop into delicate, beautiful and intrically shaped forms. But can this pre-determined process be duplicated by man…

“It’s an amazing little marvel,” said Heinrich Jaeger, Professor in Physics at the University of Chicago. “This is not a very fragile layer, but rather a robust, resilient membrane.” Even when…

When nicotine binds to a neuron, how does the cell know to send the signal that announces a smoker’s high? As with other questions involving good sensations, the answer appears to be sugar. A…

The driving forces behind major shifts in recent human evolution and adaptation have been the subject of intense debate for more than 100 years. A group of researchers believe using records from the…

Should adolescents with depression be prescribed antidepressants, and if so, should they be given only with a psychological therapy, as advocated by the National Institute for Health and Clinical…

Simple nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), are single variations affecting only one nucleotide or base of the genomic sequence. Despite humans sharing 99.9% of the genome sequence, there are still 3…

Experiments using pigs genetically engineered for compatibility with the human immune system have raised hopes that cross-species transplantation could soon become an option for patients with…