While the wily coyote reigns as top dog in much of the country, it leads a nervous existence wherever it coexists with its larger relative, the wolf, according to a new study. In fact, coyote densities are more than 30 percent lower in areas that they share with wolves.

Tiny new laboratory tools termed microfluidic devices are helping biomedical researchers to better understand the physiological and chemical processes underlying high blood pressure, stroke, sickle cell disease and other disorders, according to a new article. One of the exciting developments described in the article is a "lung on a chip" device that will give researchers new insights into fluid...

Researchers have discovered that gently shaking embryonic stem cells, similar to how an embryo is shaken in the mother's womb, improves their development and could some day even be used to control what type of cell they eventually become.

A common hospital superbug called Clostridium difficile has a protective coat of armor that can self assemble when put into a test tube on its own, which may have important commercial uses in nanotechnology, according to scientists.

Virological evidence cannot prove transmission in HIV criminal cases, warn experts. Viral phylogenetics provides a way of assessing the relations between viruses from different people. It allows us to estimate the probability that viruses from two particular people have a recent common origin. But there are serious limitations on what can and cannot be inferred using this technique.

There may be nowhere for life to hide from the effects of climate change or asteroids hitting the Earth, according to new research. On the ocean floor 'islands' of exotic deep-sea life have been found to thrive around volcanic vents and other seabed features. Scientists used to think these 'islands' on the ocean floor acted as 'air-raid shelters' for some species during global catastrophes....

New research suggests that individuals with autism take note of social cues such as eye contact more closely than previously thought, regardless of whether or not they have an additional language impairment. Many researchers believe that poor social understanding lies at the heart of autistic disorders. Testing this hypothesis has traditionally proved tricky as the methods used are often far...

The general public easily recognises the faces of people with Down's syndrome, but there are over 700 genetic conditions where there are characteristic facial features: the eyes may be set further apart than usual, the nose shorter and the ears set lower down on the head along with many other possible permutations. Clinical geneticists use these face shape differences as important clues in the...

Orcas or killer whales may continue to suffer the effects of contamination with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) for the next 30 to 60 years, despite 1970s-era regulations that have reduced overall PCB concentrations in the environment, researchers report. Other threats to orca survival include ship traffic, reduced abundance of prey and environmental contamination. Orcas, which reach a length...

If you sit on cold boulders or forget to wear your woollen pants, you can develop a urinary tract infection, or so the story goes. It turns out though, that these diseases are more complicated than this, and in some cases they have a genetic background. Scientists have found a gene that appears to lie behind many of the most severe urinary tract infections.

By combining electrically induced fluid flow with nanoscale nozzles, researchers have established new benchmarks for precision control and resolution in jet-printing processes. This type of e-jet printing could be used for large-area circuits, displays, photovoltaic modules and related devices, as well as other wide-ranging application possibilities in security, biotechnology and photonics,...

It's hardly surprising that clinically depressed people act differently than healthy people. Quantifying the difference, however, can be difficult. Now a collaboration of physicists and psychiatrists in Japan has found a way to clearly and objectively measure depression. The researchers outfitted both healthy control subjects and depressed patients with accelerometers to continuously measure their...

NASA and the US Department of Energy should pursue the Joint Dark Energy Mission as the first mission in the "Beyond Einstein" program, according to a new report from the National Research Council. Beyond Einstein is NASA's research roadmap for five proposed mission areas to study the most compelling questions at the intersection of physics and astronomy.

A significant number of people from ethnic minority backgrounds can be persuaded to take part in research studies, according to a new report. This contradicts previous research that suggests that ethnic minorities are less likely to volunteer for clinical research, possibly due to famous breaches of medical ethics, such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.

A major study has shown evidence of increased levels of hyperactivity in young children consuming mixtures of some artificial food colors and the preservative sodium benzoate. The possibility of food colours and preservatives affecting children's behaviour has long been an unresolved question for parents. This significant new research provides a clear demonstration that changes in behaviour can be...

Weather forecasting and climate modeling for the notoriously unpredictable Sahel region of Africa could be made easier in the future, thanks to new research results coming from the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis study. The scientists gathered new atmospheric data by using satellite imagery to plot flight paths over areas where storms had produced very wet soils. Dropsondes (weather...

The number of electronic components in cars is growing rapidly. To ensure that vehicle electronics will work properly in future despite the overabundance of software and its increasing complexity, researchers are remodeling it and making it even safer. The sight of a shiny new car suggests streamlined high-tech devices. But appearances are deceptive. Under the hood, all is confusion. Around 100...

A new study reveals that relatively few men, only 5.6 percent of the male population, actually suffer from low testosterone accompanied by clinical symptoms. That percentage, however, rises substantially with age.

Did the great flood of Noah's generation really occur thousands of years ago? Was the Roman city of Caesarea destroyed by an ancient tsunami? Will pollution levels in our deep seas remain forever a mystery? These are just a few of the questions that are being addressed by a new environmental marine research team. Scientists and Swedish environmental philanthropist Andreas Weil are collaborating on...

New research reveals that the drug cinacalcet HCl (cinacalcet) may effectively reduce the dangerous accumulation of calcium in the blood that typically accompanies parathyroid cancer. This drug therapy could provide a new and effective medical treatment option for patients with inoperable parathyroid carcinoma (cancer).

Aircraft wings and dashboards are shaped in metal molds. These have to be 'greased', just like cake tins, before each molding process so that the plastic parts can be extracted at the end. A permanent coating has been designed to provide help in future. Baking a cake without greasing the tin is usually a disaster: The cake cannot be taken out in one piece. The same principle applies to the...

New research shows children whose mothers had a high pre-pregnant body mass index or large mid-upper arm circumference in late pregnancy, have a greater fat mass index at age nine years than other children in their age group.

Teen binge drinkers are significantly more likely to become heavy drinkers as adults and find themselves with a string of criminal convictions, indicates a new study. The researchers monitored the health and prospects of more than 11,000 UK children born in 1970 at the ages of 16 and 30. They collected information on binge drinking during the preceding fortnight and habitual drinking during the...

Scientists have long known that the human body runs like clockwork, guided by a circadian system that responds to daily patterns of light and darkness. Now a team of researchers is developing a personal device to measure daily light intake and activity, which could allow them to predict optimal timing for light therapy to synchronize the circadian clock to the 24-hour solar day and relieve...