The University of Colorado at Boulder has been awarded a $6 million grant from NASA to build a high-tech lunar dust detector for a 2011 mission to orbit the moon and conduct science investigations of the dusty lunar surface and its atmosphere.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Using two simultaneous light-based probing techniques at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, a team of researchers has illuminated important details about a class of enzymes involved in everything from photosynthesis to the regulation of biological clocks.

(AP) -- Birders with binoculars and cameras are flocking to a remote state park in search of a small yellow-chested bird that apparently crossed the U.S. border for the first time from its high-mountain habitat to the south.

(AP) -- The woman who led the nation's public health agency in a post-Sept. 11 world of bioterrorist fears is out, her resignation announced in a Friday night e-mail to employees.

(AP) -- A toxic chemical produced by algae has been detected in some sick California brown pelicans that are being found in record numbers along the West Coast, though researchers don't believe it's the primary cause of their widespread illness, wildlife experts said Friday.

AP - A toxic chemical produced by algae has been detected in some sick California brown pelicans that are being found in record numbers along the West Coast, though researchers don't believe it's the primary cause of their widespread illness, wildlife experts said Friday.

Scientists have demonstrated a more effective treatment for bacterial pneumonia following influenza. They found that the antibiotics clindamycin and azithromycin, which kill bacteria by inhibiting their protein synthesis, are more effective than a standard first-line treatment with the "beta-lactam" antibiotic ampicillin, which causes the bacteria to lyse, or...

A new report underscores the notion that stroke risks go beyond geographic and racial differences. Researchers report that non-traditional risk factors must explain the South's higher stroke death rate. What those factors are need further study, but clearly diabetes and hypertension play an important role, the study authors...

Researchers have developed a new generation of microscopic particles for molecular imaging, constituting one of the first promising nanoparticle platforms that may be readily adapted for tumor targeting and treatment in the clinic.

A powerful new tool that can extract features and patterns from enormously large and complex data sets has been developed. The tool -- a set of problem-solving calculations known as an algorithm -- is compact enough to run on computers with as little as two gigabytes of...

Ants don't tolerate philandering -- promiscuous ants are attacked and killed. Now, scientists have figured out exactly how the colony knows who's been up to no good....

Bed bugs, once nearly eradicated in the built environment, have made a big comeback recently, especially in urban centers such as New York City. In the first study to explain the failure to control certain bed bug populations, toxicologists show that some of these nocturnal blood suckers have developed resistance to pyrethroid insecticides, in particular deltamethrin, that attack their nervous...

New evidence shows that very large earthquakes can trigger an increase in activity at nearby volcanoes. An analysis of records in southern Chile has shown that up to four times as many volcanic eruptions occur during the year following very large earthquakes than in other years. This 'volcanic surge' can affect volcanoes up to at least 500 km away from an earthquake's...

Menthol cigarettes are harder to quit, particularly among African American and Latino smokers, according to new research.

AP - Congressional auditors say that NASA's in-house financial watchdog is doing little to unearth waste and abuse at the space...

AP - The activist animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has asked school officials to change the name of Spearfish High School to "Sea Kitten High School." The new name would "reflect the gentle nature of its current marine namesake," the organization said in a letter to Steve Morford, Spearfish High School principal.

AP - Birders with binoculars and cameras are flocking to a remote state park in search of a small yellow-chested bird that apparently crossed the U.S. border for the first time from its high-mountain habitat to the...

Telecommunications giant Telus is off the hook on allegations that it criminally withheld information in a high-profile serial killer investigation.

The little girl born free of the BRCA1 gene that so often causes breast cancer is not a designer baby in the strict sense of the phrase. Her parents did not choose her hair colour, or select an aptitude for maths. But the birth breaks new ground because, for the first time, embryo selection was made for the purpose of reducing, not eliminating, the baby's chances of getting breast cancer when she...

Obviously by now you can guess my views on detox: meaningless, symbolic, gimmicky, short-lived gestures with a built-in expiry date, when we could be reading about the NHS's surprisingly useful website to help you stop smoking (do it now: smokefree.nhs.uk). I'm not trying to bore you, but after a few months of concentrating on dodgy reporting in the media, I had forgotten how far out a proper...

Reuters - A lobster thought to be about 140 years old will be returned to the ocean after briefly becoming the mascot for a New York City restaurant, an animal rights group said on Friday.

AP - Birders with binoculars and cameras are flocking to a remote state park in search of a small yellow-chested bird that apparently crossed the U.S. border for the first time from its high-mountain habitat to the...

Among older women who have never taken hormone replacement therapy, obesity is tied to a higher risk of developing ovarian cancer, researchers reported....