Milder winters are causing Scotland's wild breed of Soay sheep to get smaller, despite the evolutionary benefits of possessing a large body, according to new research.

To better understand increasingly prevelant Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fires -- and how best to prevent or fight them -- researchers have issued an in-depth case study on fire behavior and defensive actions taken in a community during a major WUI fire in California.

Physicians focused on reducing anxiety in children and their families report that oral treatment with melatonin before surgery can significantly reduce the occurrence of emergence delirium in children.

Existing drugs used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease could be repositioned for use in the treatment of extreme drug-resistant tuberculosis, which kills about 2 million people each year, according to a new study. The rise of these strains of TB throughout the world, including industrialized countries, poses a great threat to human...

Researchers have determined that individuals with mild to severe symptoms of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are more likely to suffer from metabolic syndrome, a collection of cardiovascular risk factors thought to be linked by insulin resistance). LUTS encompass voiding (incomplete emptying, weak stream, intermittency, straining) and storage (frequency, urgency, nocturia)...

Combining gamma-ray telescopes with the supersharp radio 'vision' of the Very Long Baseline Array showed astronomers the location from which very-high-energy gamma rays are emerging from the core ot the giant galaxy M87.

Scientists have found evidence of an important similarity between the behavior of polycrystalline materials -- like metals and ceramics -- and glasses, research that could lead to better predictions of how many valuable materials behave under stress.

New research uses the Ras protein to fight its own malign effects.

Mental stress causes carotid artery dilation and increases brain blood flow. A series of ultrasound experiments also found that this dilatory reflex was absent in people with high blood pressure.

Research has identified a new gene associated with diabetes, together with a mechanism that makes obese mice less susceptible to diabetes. A genomic fragment that occurs naturally in some mouse strains diminishes the activity of the risk gene Zfp69. The researchers also found that the corresponding human gene (ZNF642) is especially active in overweight individuals with...

On July 2 the detectors of Planck's High Frequency Instrument reached their amazingly low operational temperature of -273°C, making them the coldest known objects in space. The spacecraft has also just entered its final orbit around the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system,...

Coronary artery bypass surgery provides "excellent" long-term survival for children who have severe inflammatory heart and blood vessel damage caused by Kawasaki disease. While post-operative problems may increase over time, these can be managed with proper follow-up care. Most of the young patients have normal lives, including participation in...

A common tuberculosis vaccine is too risky to give to those born infected with the AIDS virus, says a new study published by the World Health Organization.

Environmental groups lost all five of their cases before the Supreme Court last term, a trend scholars see continuing as the court moves to the right.

The best of the rest from the Physics arXiv blog this week:

Two residents of the General Grant Houses in Upper Manhattan are spreading the word about recycling, building by building.

Old Asia-Pacific maps from Japanese Imperial Army archives are going online for modern use, such as studying changes in forest cover or the growth of cities, a Japanese researcher said Friday.

Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon. Pretty impressive. So impressive that 40 years later, people still make documentaries wondering what that must've been like. Being Neil Armstrong (Sun, 9pm, BBC4) is the latest.Its premise is this: Neil Armstrong has become a recluse. He never signs autographs and doesn't speak to the press. Why? Why don't you want to come out and talk to us, Neil? Why...

German auto maker Volkswagen hopes to turn out its first all-electric car in 2013, VW head Martin Winterkorn said Friday.

RCMP in Barrhead, 120 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, are in the process of extricating a vehicle from the Athabasca River that could be connected to two men missing since 2004.