Computers are getting smaller and smaller and as hand-held devices like mobile phones and music players get more powerful the race is on to develop memory formats that can satisfy the ever-growing…

Listening to your favorite music may be good for your cardiovascular system. Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore have shown for the first time that the emotions…

Illustrating the power of submillimetre-wavelength astronomy, an APEX image reveals how an expanding bubble of ionised gas about ten light-years across is causing the surrounding material to collapse…

A study in rats shows that exposure to a high-fat diet during pregnancy produces permanent changes in the offspring's brain that lead to overeating and obesity early in life, according to new…

A reaction essential for the biosynthesis of hemoglobin and chlorophyll, when catalyzed by the enzyme uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase, causes production in cells to be "increased by a staggering…

Small skink lizards, Lerista, demonstrate extensive changes in body shape over geologically brief periods. Research published in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology shows that several…

A team of researchers led by North Carolina State University has made a breakthrough that could lead to new dialysis devices and a host of other revolutionary medical implants. The researchers have…

Working out on a stationary bicycle or walking on a treadmill just 25 to 30 minutes most days of the week is enough to modestly lower risk of hospitalization or death for patients with heart failure,…

Craig Venter and James Watson have won this year's Cold Spring Harbor 'Double Helix Medal For Scientific Research'. Venter deserves it, but what's the deal with Watson? He hasn't done much for…

I gets weary, and sick of trying … the words almost taken from Ol' Man River.  But weary of what?  Trying to persuade the physics world from harping too much on about celebrity physicists.…

The seasons are shifting. For most places, colder weather and less daylight means the steady approach of winter. In my home in Northern California, summer lasts through October.  The sun shines…

For those that suffer from Huntington’s Disease or worry about its development, a new hope for a treatment may be on the horizon. Raptor Pharmaceuticals Corp. has announced that it will collaborate…

As Adaptive Complexity writes, last week's issue of Nature  included the publication of  West-African and Han Chinese individual genomes.  The ability to sequence and analyze…

As a brief follow up to the post about Dr. Andras Pellionisz's Google seminar, I cannot help but quote from his website: Since a US Government-mandated (and taxpayer paid) 4-year study (ENCODE, led…

Petroleum is the feedstock for many products in the chemical industry but it is becoming increasingly expensive.  Renewable raw materials are an alternative but we quickly learned that, despite…

It sounds like a science fiction movie: A killer contagion threatens the Earth, but scientists save the day with a designer drug that forces the virus to mutate itself out of existence. The killer…

Children with heart defects may someday receive perfectly-matched new heart valves built using stem cells from their umbilical cord blood, according to research presented at the American Heart…

We rarely think about the electricity impact of something like a conveyor belt at an airport.   When our luggage goes on , or we step on one, numerous gears with ball- and slide-bearings go to…

About 10 million people in the United States alone—from troops returning from war to students with music blasting through headphones—are suffering from impairing noise-induced hearing loss.  The…

Ewing sarcoma is the second most common type of primary bone cancer seen in children and young adults. Patients with relapsed or refractory Ewing sarcoma have a poor outcome with conventional…