From miniature elephants to monster mice, and even Hobbit-sized humans, size changes in island animals are well-known to science. Biologists have long believed that large animals evolving on islands tend to get smaller, while small animals tend to get bigger, a generalization they call "the island r...
One in eight women in the United States will develop breast cancer. Of those, many will undergo surgery to remove the tumor and will require some kind of breast reconstruction afterward, often involving implants. Cancer is an elusive target, though, and malignant cells return for as many as one-fift...
A major research trial to test whether extra support for smokers calling an NHS quitline - on top of what is already offered by the service - has found the additional help does not improve success rates for quitting the habit.
Researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas and Virginia Tech have created an undersea vehicle inspired by the common jellyfish that runs on renewable energy and could be used in ocean rescue and surveillance missions.
Facebook has acquired hundreds of patents from International Business Machines Corp as the social networking company attempts to bolster its intellectual property portfolio in the wake of a lawsuit filed by Yahoo.
A new method to make better use of vast amounts of data related to global geography, population and climate may help determine the relative importance of population increases vs. climate change.
Salt beef, sea biscuits and the occasional weevil; the food endured by sailors during the Napoleonic wars is seldom imagined to be appealing. Now a new chemical analysis technique has allowed archaeologists to find out just how dour the diet of Georgian sailors really was. The team's findings, publi...
From 26 to 28 March, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in Halle (Saale) will host meetings of the two associations of national science academies, the InterAcademy Council (IAC) and the InterAcademy Panel (IAP). The executive committees of the two organisations, which include represe...
Astronomers have put forward a new theory about why black holes become so hugely massive - claiming some of them have no 'table manners', and tip their 'food' directly into their mouths, eating more than one course simultaneously.
The development of a novel antidepressant ground to a halt this week when researchers found it did not make patients feel any better than the pills they were already taking.
A study by the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) into the development of speech about the Civil War on Television Española (Spain's national state owned public television broadcaster) states that from the 70's, public television stopped portraying republicans as national enemies and acknowle...
Scientists have discovered how electroconvulsive or electric shock therapy - a controversial but effective treatment - acts on the brains of severely depressed people and say the finding could help improve diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.
