Science News

A baffling new mystery has turned up on Mercury -- a pattern of giant cliffs and ridges on the planet's surface that defies any explanation that scientists have currently been able to offer.

The smooth blue sphere of the National Ignition Facility's (NIF) target chamber bristles with diagnostics--nuclear, optical and X-ray instruments that together provide some 300 channels for experimental data. These diagn...

The rise of health apps has made it possible to chart your steps, heartbeat, and sleep patterns, but the availability of this constant stream of information has yet to reach patient electronic health records. In a commen...

Major errors during surgery are rare, but preventable mistakes still happen in hospitals throughout the United States, a new review finds.

Nursing home residents with dementia are less likely to be apathetic if they live in an appropriately stimulating environment, according to nursing researchers. Apathy is one of the most common neurobehavioral symptoms i...

Ovarian cancer shuts down immune system cells that would otherwise act as a first line of defense against the deadly tumor, scientists report. But a therapy that restores the cells' disease-fighting abilities could provi...

A new molecular mechanism that contributes to age-related macular degeneration due to accumulation of excessive iron within the cells of the retina has been described in a new scientific report.

Bright light at the end of a night shift may have potential as a countermeasure to improve driving performance, particularly for low light work environments and commutes that occur before dawn, a new study suggests.

More than half of all children and adolescents in the US are not getting enough hydration -- probably because they're not drinking enough water -- a situation that could have significant repercussions for their physical ...

Messages with images depicting the harsh realities of melanoma are more powerful than the text-only warning required by the US Food and Drug Administration in persuading women to reconsider indoor tanning, a new study sh...

Cardiac surgeons often "crack open" the flat bone that forms the middle front section of the chest, known as the sternum, in order to reach important structures. When a sternal wound infection (SWI) occurs, serious compl...

Among children with chronic kidney disease, those with lower vitamin D levels had higher levels of blood markers related to kidney dysfunction as well as greater kidney function loss over time, researchers report. Five-y...

After spending more than 90 years in the sandy dunes of Guadalupe, California, a majestic plaster Hollywood sphinx, created for the 1923 blockbuster silent film "The Ten Commandments," is making its 21st century debut.

While most people know the signs of drowning, they don't understand that drowning can have a delayed response that occurs once someone is on dry land.

A cleverly designed pipe that uses water's own energy to fight gravity could be used in miniaturised disease labs

Improve your memory, overcome a phobia or unlearn a bad habit - while you slumber. It sounds too good to be true, but new work suggests there might be a way (full text available to subscribers)

Researchers have uncovered how Gram-negative bacteria -- a broad class of bugs that cause diseases ranging from gonorrhea to diarrhea and pneumonia -- can trigger a reaction from our immune system. This discovery could l...

The concept sounds like the stuff of science fiction: take a pill, and new tissues grow to replace damaged ones. Researchers have now announced steps toward turning this idea into reality. They have detailed how a new dr...

Investigators have added another piece to the puzzle of how a small group of individuals known as elite controllers are able to control HIV infection without drug treatment. The research team reports finding that dendrit...

Synchronized physiological interactions between remote brain regions have genetic underpinnings, a new study has found. The identification of functional-connectivity-associated genes sets the stage for targeted clinical ...

About 90 percent of adults worldwide are infected with Epstein-Barr virus, or EBV. The virus infects B cells (the white blood cells that make antibodies) and can contribute to B-cell-derived cancers, but in most people i...

The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that results in browned foods like seared steaks and toasted bread. When proteins and sugars are mixed together and heated, new chemica...