Scientists have reconstructed part of the male chromosome in polar bears. They were able to assign 1.9 million base pairs specifically to the polar bear Y chromosome and show that more than 100,000 years ago, the male polar bear lineages split and developed in two separate genetic groups.

The polar bear is the world’s largest land-dwelling predator and is hard to miss. Nevertheless, it is difficult to study the evolution this arctic resident: Polar bears live and die on the frozen sea, and their remains are seldom found.

“In order to gain insights into the evolutionary development of Ursus maritimus, we use genetics instead of fossils,” explains Prof. Axel Janke of the Senckenberg Research Institute for Biodiversity and Climate in Frankfurt.

The Battle of Agincourt, a major English victory in the Hundred Years' War, will have its 600th anniversary on October 25th, 2015, but they had actually landed in August.

How big was the fleet that carried the army? Henry V’s naval fleet, used to transport troops, was much smaller than previously thought, according to a historian. 

In Mexico, breast cancer has been adequately controlled, and is no longer considered a risk of death when it’s diagnosed.

The disease is more common among women in the capital and the northern states, and is first in incidence of malignant neoplasms in females. It represents 11.34 percent of all cancer cases, and the increase is negligible. But in the United States the increase is five percent per year.

3D printing technology can now include electrical components, such as resistors, inductors, capacitors and integrated wireless electrical sensing systems, and researchers have put that concept to the test by printing a wireless “smart cap” for a milk carton that detected signs of spoilage using embedded sensors.

Prosthetics, medical implants and toys are all fantastic but what had been missing from the repertoire until now was the ability to produce sensitive electronic components.

The discovery of unusual foraging activity in bacteria species populating our gut may explain how conditions like Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) link to changes in the populations of bacteria in our gut. IBD affects 1 in every 250 people but its causes are unknown. Studies have shown that IBD patients have a different profile of gut microbes, which is called dysbiosis.

All of us have trillions of beneficial bacteria in our gut, but the combination of different species, known as the microbiome, varies. A crucial question has been whether IBD causes our microbiome to change, or whether an imbalanced microbiome could be triggering IBD. And exactly how does one affect the other? We need to study these interactions to define new targets for therapeutics.

A bomb-proof lining called the  Fly-Bag has successfully contained blasts in a series of controlled explosions in the luggage hold of a Boeing 747 and an Airbus 321. Using this technology, tests show plane’s luggage hold may be able to contain force of an explosion if a device hidden in a passenger’s luggage detonates

The Fly-Bag lines an aircraft’s luggage hold with multiple layers of novel fabrics and composites and was tested under increasing explosive charges on disused planes at Cotswolds Airport, near Cirencester, this week.