I am fortunate enough to own a small cottage on Fire Island. The island is a barrier beach, located about five miles off the south shore of Long Island. It is a wonderful, unique place. There are no…

In 2002, President George W. Bush authorized funding for human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) using federal money for the first time - but he limited that federal funding to existing lines. His…

Researchers have identified the genes in wheat that control tolerance to a significant yield-limiting soil condition found around the globe; boron toxicity. Wheat has been difficult to work with in…

A new study has discovered that microRNAs (miRNAs), small RNA molecules that play important roles in regulation in many types of tissue, play a major role in the distribution and determination of fat…

How do you shape your hopes, ambitions and expectations when growing up in an environment devastated by HIV/AIDS? For her doctoral thesis, epidemiologist Ellen Blommaert looked for answers in Winam,…

Orgasms aren’t just good for your sexual relationship, they may also promote good communication, according to a paper in Communication Monographs. In the aftermath of having experienced an orgasm,…

Today, scientists from the University of Leicester are driving the streets in electric vehicles (EV’s) fitted with specialized air monitoring sensors, with the intention of measuring the extent of…

The gay marriage movement may seem like a modern development but it had its roots in World War II culture. By having homosexual characters in comedies, the concept was less threatening and…

In cosmology, cold dark matter is believed to be a form of matter which moves slowly in comparison with light and interacts weakly with electromagnetic radiation. It is estimated that only a minute…

Forty-eight centuries ago, a bronze-age settlement flourished on the southern coast of Peloponnese, about 30 miles south of what would two thousand years later become the important town of Sparta.…

Unwed parents are becoming more common - some estimates are that more children will be born out of wedlock than in it by 2016. Unwed parents may eventually get married, though perhaps not to the…

The level of recorded music just keeps on increasing. This is what the music press and concerned fans refer to as the “loudness war”. Since digital audio has an absolute upper level limit, it is…

Researchers have identified a biomarker that predicts whether glioblastoma – the most common form of primary brain cancer – will respond to chemotherapy.   "Every patient diagnosed with…

Locusts decide the most nutritious plant to eat based on ambient temperature - they choose their food and then where they digest it according to how hot it is.   The researchers used two species…

Invasion by exotic plant species affects the ability of soil to store greenhouse gases, which could have far-reaching implications for how we manage agricultural land and native ecosystems, according…

Many humans can't remember what they had for dinner last night. Nor can many other creatures. Some have exceptionally short memories. Defying popular convention, a new study finds that fish,…

Research into mitigating potential global warming caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide usually involves three areas: Developing alternative energy sources, capturing and storing greenhouse gases…

There's a reason scare journalism is so popular - people respond to it. If you ask most people why they should use sunscreen, they will tell you it prevents skin cancer, though humanity survived…

It's commonly believed that plant growth can be influenced by sound and that plants respond to wind and touch. Researchers at the University of Missouri took it a step farther than playing classical…

Facebook is under fire again, this time not over privacy, but for finding that a news feed can affect users’ subsequent posts (and presumably, emotions).  Unfortunately, the indignant outrage…