Researchers have announced the discovery of a gene, zic-1, that enables stem cells to regrow a head after decapitation in flatworm planarians. Many species across the animal kingdom have the ability…

The earthquakes in central Oklahoma since 2009 are likely attributable to subsurface wastewater injection at a handful of disposal wells - Oklahoma earthquakes constitute nearly half of all central…

The reduction of soil carbon stock caused by the conversion of pasture areas into sugarcane plantations is very common change in Brazil in recent years but those worried about the impact on CO2 can…

Acoustic vibrations – sound waves – are produced by radiation pressure inside stars. While physicists have long posited that young stars vibrate differently than older stars, a new study says it is…

PNAS has issued an expression of concern about a study it published where Facebook attempted to manipulate the emotions of members by controlling their news feed (10.1073/pnas.1320040111). But they…

So the USA lost to Belgium in the World Cup elimination round. I predicted a win for the US for a simple reason - Belgium, I said, does not know how good it is, whereas the US does.  That's…

The FDA released its long-awaited Draft Guidance on hospital-acquired pneumonia recently. Their guidance has not changed since I wrote a blog about my last meeting with the FDA…

A couple of weeks ago I reported here about the new measurement of the Higgs boson mass produced by the ATLAS experiment. That determination, which used the full dataset of Run 1 proton-proton…

You know why soup tastes good - and your dogs love it too. It's bone marrow fat. Now it may be healthier to eat delicious. A study has found that the fat tissue in bone marrow is a significant source…

Portuguese government shuts down half of the research units in the country The Portuguese funding agency for science (Fundação para a Ciência e aTecnologia – FCT) has just announced lthat it will…

Want to send a message to possible invaders? Pile dead bodies high and deep. A new species of wasp does just that. This wasp with a unique nest-building strategy was discovered in the forests of…

The human genome and the messages coded by 3 billion letters that determine everything from how nutrients are metabolized to how neurons communicate in the brain. The detection and…

Iron is one of the essential elements of life. Found in enzymes like myoglobin and hemoglobin and cytochrome P450, iron is an essential cog in the biomachinery of every living cell.  Iron is…

Paleontologists of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich studying a new specimen of Archaeopteryx have found previously unknown features of the plumage, which shed light on the original function…

Dyslexic adults in a representative sample of 13,054 adults aged 18 and over in the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey included 1,020 respondents who reported that they had been physically abused…

We know that ancient Japanese gold leaf artists were truly masters of their craft - their works are ornate and delicate. What remains a mystery is how artifacts were gilded with gold leaf that was…

A systematic review and meta-analysis of available data published in Diabetologia suggests that combined aerobic and resistance training, rather than either alone, is best for controlling both blood…

The UK government is in a deficit crisis. Unlike the US, they seem to worry about it. In order to reduce the deficit, they have taken steps to make welfare less of a chronic lifestyle.  Since…

The argument for making marijuana legal despite its health risks is that so many people use it anyway that it creates a society of casual criminals at best - maybe they are getting a bogus…

Scorpions build a platform on which to warm up before the evening hunt.  Researchers investigated the burrows of wild Large-Clawed Scorpions (Scorpio maurus palmatus) in the Negev Desert of…