An article in BMJ reports on the first instance of probable person-to-person transmission of the new avian influenza A (H7N9) virus, which was recently identified in Eastern China.  As of June…

A RIKEN research team says that an enzyme called Rines regulates Monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A), a major brain protein controlling emotion and mood, making it a potential drug target for treating…

In a new study, researchers show that is possible to restore immune function in spinal injured mice. People with spinal cord injury often are immune compromised, which makes them more susceptible to…

If you have to have light at night, a new study suggests that the color can make a big difference in how (un)healthy it is - and the answer is counter-intuitive. Though the color blue is believed to…

In the next few months, something big is going to happen - but don't worry if you miss it, in about 11 years, it will happen again. The sun's vast magnetic field is about to flip. The sun's magnetic…

Alex Wild at Myrmecos has shared a picture from visiting scholar Antónia Monteiro - a simply unbelievable Malaysian moth.  Mimicry is common in insects, they can adopt the cryptic appearance of…

We see it happen all of the time - a paper is produced saying something is either bad or is a Miracle Vegetable of The Week, it gets worldwide mainstream media attention, and then a bunch of other…

Over 12 billion years ago, a star exploded and blasting its remains outward in twin jets at nearly the speed of light. Its glow was a million times brighter than its entire galaxy. After traveling…

The word zoonoses…. seeing that on my screen makes me wonder how many of us giggle at the idea of zoo noses. You know, like an elephant’s trunk or the orangutan’s smooshed up nose? But zoonoses doesn…

I've just returned from a week on Kauai.  It is known as "The Garden Isle" of the Hawaiian chain, but recently that garden has been heavily sown with seeds of fear, suspicion, and conspiratorial…