Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine assistant professor of pediatrics, neurosciences and otolaryngology, Stephen M. Maricich, M.D., Ph.D., and his team found that Merkel cells originate in the skin, not the neural crest lineage, as previously speculated.

Is global warming shrinking Mount Rainier? A survey marker atop the Northwest's tallest peak sure makes it look that way.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Princeton University scientists have shown that, in ancient times, the Earth's magnetic field was structured like the two-pole model of today, suggesting that the methods geoscientists use to reconstruct the geography of early land masses on the globe are accurate. The findings may lead to a better understanding of historical continental movement, which relates to changes in...

Sony Corp. today announced the development of a highly efficient wireless power transfer system that eliminates the use of power cables from electronic products such as television sets. Using this system, up to 60 Watts of electrical energy can be transferred over a distance of 50cm (at an efficiency of approximately 80%, approximately 60% including rectifier).

Melor has become a Super Typhoon with sustained winds near 130 mph, and is crossing Guam and its islands this weekend. Warnings and watches are already up for the region.

Technology companies are hardly the most prominent villains in the ongoing drama over exorbitant executive pay.

Understanding the evolution and domestication of maize has been a holy grail for many researchers. As one of the most important crops worldwide and as a crop that appears very different from its wild relatives as a result of domestication, understanding exactly how maize has evolved has many practical benefits and may help to improve crop yields.

A Europe-wide tax on personal or household fuel consumption was proposed on Friday as EU finance ministers met to discuss who should pay what in the fight against global warming.

(PhysOrg.com) -- The federal government may not have been able to save California from massive budget cuts, but at least a stimulus research grant will help scientists understand the biology of western lakes.

Typhoon Parma is a huge storm and NASA's TRMM satellite sees it is already bringing more unwanted rains and gusty winds to the typhoon-weary and devastated Philippines. Parma, also called "Pepeng" in the Philippines, will bring heavy rains there today and tomorrow before moving back to sea.

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have identified the role of a gene in regulating molecular signals involved with ovarian follicle development, which may one day help shed light on some of the causes of fertility issues in humans.

British archaeologists have discovered the ruins of an arena built early in the third century BC outside Ostia, the ancient imperial port 25 kilometres (16 miles) from Rome, the team leader said Friday.

When used at high temperatures (above 1100 °C) thermocouples are prone to substantial calibration drift. To gauge the extent of the drift, for example, in an industrial setting, it is highly desirable for the thermocouple to be calibrated regularly in-situ.

A newly revealed patent application and a new burst of rumors are providing more support to reports that Apple is planning a groundbreaking tablet computer. The application describes new forms of multi-touch interaction, and the rumors describe secret talks that Apple is having with newspaper and textbook publishers. According to a report Wednesday in the tech blog Gizmodo, Apple is currently...

Nearly two months after being sued for removing electronic books from Kindle owners' devices without their knowledge, Amazon has agreed to a settlement. The Internet retailer will pony up $150,000 to settle the class-action suit. The first complaint filed against Amazon came from 17-year-old Justin Gawronski. The high-school student from Michigan sued after Amazon erased copies of author...

On Thursday, Red Hat filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to reject software patents. In what will be an uphill battle for the Linux-based software developer, Red Hat sought to explain the practical problems software patents pose to developers. The Red Hat brief is part of the Bilski v. Doll patent-law case, which involves the standard for patenting a process. The case...

Apple Inc. and Eminem's music publisher have come to a settlement over a lawsuit concerning nearly 100 of the rapper's songs on Apple's iTunes online music store.

AP - A typhoon is bearing down on the Northern Mariana Islands, leading some airlines to cancel flights and residents to stock up on emergency supplies.

AP - Texas gave birth to the modern oil industry, invented the handheld calculator and sent man to the moon. But can the Lone Star State cure...

SPACE.com - They haven't yet figured out how to draw blood from stones, but a group of French researchers is offering new insight that could change how scientists search for signs of life in Martian rocks.

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Texas at Austin anthropologist Liza Shapiro and two fellow researchers on Thursday won an Ig Nobel Prize -- dedicated to "achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think" -- for a 2007 study on the evolutionary reasons pregnant women don't tip over.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Marine biology graduate student Austin Gallagher has studied the dwindling shark population around the world -from the waters of the South Pacific to those off Southern California.

German solar energy firms are in a bind, the head of a federation said in a report due out on Monday amid concern that the new German government will abandon the sector.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Newcastle scientists Dr Catherine Douglas and Dr Peter Rowlinson have won the Ig Nobel Prize for Veterinary Medicine for their work looking at reducing stress levels in dairy cattle. In a paper published earlier this year, they described how giving a cow a name and treating her as an individual can increase a farmer`s annual milk yield by almost 500 pints.