A Rutgers University team is opening new doors to improved hearing for the congenitally or profoundly deaf. They researchers found that two neurotrophin proteins in the cochlea -- brain-derived neurotrophic factor and neurotrophin-3 -- figure prominently in the relay of sound messages to the brain. The research is showing precisely how these multidimensional proteins operate in the cochlea. Their...

Developing fetuses are extremely sensitive to radiation, which poses an impossible dilemma for expecting mothers in need of screening or treatment for cancer. Now researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new set of modeling tools that could enable safer, more accurate, and more effective radiation therapy and nuclear medicine imaging procedures for pregnant women.

The stunning amount of forest devastation at Tunguska a century ago in Siberia may have been caused by an asteroid only a fraction as large as those postulated in previously published estimates, Sandia supercomputer simulations suggest. Because there are more smaller asteroids than larger ones, the need to guard against such impacts may be greater than previously thought.

By using a combination of inexpensive infection control measures, hospitals around the world could prevent half the new cases of extensively drug resistant tuberculosis, according to a new study in the Lancet by researchers at Yale School of Medicine.

A new material, nano flakes, may revolutionize the transformation of solar energy to electricity.

Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to increase the storage capacity of Lithium ion batteries by 10. A laptop that nows runs for two hours on battery could run a stunning 20 hours.

New research indicates that a diagnostic strategy using computed tomographic pulmonary angiography may be a safe alternative to conventional lungs scans (known as ventilation-perfusion scans) for excluding the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the lung vessels), although CTPA may detect more clots, according to a study in the Dec. 19 issue of JAMA.

New research published in the December issue of The Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that outcomes of high-risk cancer operations in 80-year-olds are considerably worse than reported in case studies and published survival statistics, which may lead to unrealistic expectations about the safety of these operations in the elderly.

New information published in the Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research explores University students' motivations for using or not using cannabis and found various factors that might encourage use.

Montana State University's library of 400 grizzly bear hair samples will be analyzed to determine the genetic diversity of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population. The study will also determine if bears from the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem are adding their genetic diversity to the Yellowstone group.

A new national study of voters who say they might vote in Democractic primaries and caucuses shows a striking disconnect between their explict and their implicit (or unconscious) preferences.

What are the defining discoveries and great developments that are shaping the way we use materials and technologies today? Elsevier's Materials Today magazine has compiled a list of the top ten most significant advances in materials science over the last 50 years.

A new study of twins indicates that the genetic foundation for the brain's ability to recognize faces and places is much stronger than for other objects, such as words. The results, which appear in the Dec. 19 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, are some of the first evidence demonstrating the role of genetics in assigning these functions to specific regions of the brain.

A new Web-based software program is the latest tool University of Minnesota researchers are using to help fight the spread of HIV.

Tiny copper structures with pores at both the nanometer and micron size scales could play a key role in the next generation of detonators used to improve the reliability, reduce the size and lower the cost of certain military munitions.

A University of Maryland research team has used plasmon technology to create the world's first invisibility cloak for visible light. The engineers have applied the same technology to build a revolutionary superlens microscope that allows scientists to see details of previously undetectable nanoscale objects.

Youngsters who are allowed to leave the house without an adult are more active and enjoy a richer social life than those who are constantly supervised, according to a study conducted at UCL and reported in a special edition of the journal Built Environment (Dec. 19).

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston have discovered an association between genes regulating glucose metabolism and spina bifida. The decade-long study looked at more than 1,500 DNA samples from parents and their children with that birth defect.

Tiny photosynthetic plankton less than a millionth of a millimeter in diameter numerically dominate marine phytoplankton. Their photosynthesis uses light to drive carbon dioxide uptake, fueling the marine food web over vast areas of the oceans. A new study published in this week's PLoS ONE by postdoctoral researcher Dr. Christophe Six and a team of scientists from MountAllison University,...

Four Virginia Tech engineering science and mechanics students have completed "Surf Green" for their senior design project, and conclude that they can technically improve the surfboard's performance.

In a study of adults aged 20 and over, researchers at Tufts University showed that homocysteine and methylmalonic acid are at much higher levels in individuals who have a combination of vitamin B-12 deficiency and high blood folate levels than in individuals who are also vitamin B12 deficient but have normal folate levels.

A person is sentenced to prison in America to be punished for a crime. But should that punishment also include denial of food, safety and health care? A landmark Supreme Court decision 30 years ago helped launch the nationwide movement to improve prison health care. So, how does health care in today's prisons compare to what it was like three decades ago?

Certain animals -- including dolphins, whales and sea otters -- appear to be protected by elevated levels of oxygen-carrying proteins in their brains, according to a study by researchers at UC Santa Cruz.

Over a 15-year period, women with low bone mineral density and a previous vertebral fracture had an increased risk of a new vertebral fracture compared to women with normal bone mineral density and no previous fracture, according to a study in the Dec. 19 issue of JAMA.