A New Jersey woman is collecting cans of Silly String to send to soldiers in Iraq, who use the gooey substance to detect trip wires around bombs. Read more…

Looking for a contraceptive that's convenient _ and tasty? The first chewable birth-control method, a tiny, spearmint-flavored tablet that also can be swallowed without chewing, has hit pharmacy shelves. Read more…

At least one U.S. child has died and 19 others have needed surgery since 2003 after swallowing magnets used in toys, the government reported Thursday. Read more…

The 2007 Atlantic hurricane season should have above-average activity, a top hurricane researcher said Friday. Read more…

How clouds let loose the summer showers that drench your clothes and cool you off has remained somewhat of a mystery. Now with a new instrument, scientists have effectively reached their heads into the clouds, finding that an effect they call cloud-stirring leads to the rainfall. Read more…

Agents with the U.S. Border Patrol in Yuma found an alligator stashed in the suitcase of a California man who was on his way to Phoenix. Read more…

Officials from Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority met along the shores of the Dead Sea to settle details of a study to save the shrinking body of water, agreeing to proceed with plans to draw water from the Red Sea. Read more…

A new study shows that emotional sounds like laughter are contagious, producing a mirroring response in the listener's brain. Read more…

There is a "strong scientific and moral case" for using primates in some research, a report has concluded. Channel: Science Tags: animal research Read more…

The annual Geminid meteor display is expected to peak on Wednesday night. With up to 100 meteors per hour visible from a dark site, the Geminids rival the Perseids in August for the title of best meteor display of the year. Channel: Science Tags: geminids meteor shower space Read more…

The recent retreat of Arctic sea ice is likely to accelerate so rapidly that the Arctic Ocean could become nearly devoid of ice during summertime as early as 2040, according to new research published in the December 12 issue of Geophysical Research Letters.Channel: Science Tags: global warming environment arctic ice climate change science Read more…

How many brothers and sisters you have, especially younger ones, could predict your chances of developing a brain tumor, according to a study published in the December 12, 2006, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.Channel: Science Tags: brain tumor siblings Read more…

Rust-based solar panels could make hydrogen cheap and efficient. Channel: Science Tags: science hydrogen solar power Read more…

Research by UK astronomers, published today in Nature (7th December 2006) reveals that the processes at work in black holes of all sizes are the same and that supermassive black holes are simply scaled up versions of small Galactic black holes. (07 December 2006) Read more…

A PPARC funded researcher recently won a top prize at a Physics reception held at the Houses of Parliament for the presentation of her work on using coronal dimming as a tool for predicting solar storms. (11 December 2006) Read more…

The future of European astronomy is poised to enter a new era of discovery with the decision announced today by ESO's governing body to proceed with detailed studies for the European Extremely Large Telescope. (12 December 2006) Read more…

Scientists at Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute have discovered a system in the brain that stops an alcoholic's craving for alcohol, as well as prevent relapse once they have recovered from alcohol addiction. Read more…

Yale researchers now have some answers to one of the most basic puzzles surrounding C. jejuni. At the 2006 American Society for Cell Biology conference, scientists will describe their latest research on how such a large bacteria like C. jejuni gain to human intestinal epithelial cells that do not normally take up particles of such size. Read more…

A new analytical technique, featured on the cover of this week's issue of the Journal of Physical Chemistry B, could lead to the development of cheaper, more efficient solar cells. The information that this technique provides is a critical step in the development of a new class of solar cells, which promise significant savings in production costs compared to conventional silicon-based cells. Read more…

A prospective, multi-center study of stool DNA testing has found that a new test demonstrated an 88 percent sensitivity for colorectal cancer, and with equal detection across all stages of cancer, regardless of the cancer's location in the colon. The study was published online in the American Gastroenterological Association's journal, Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Read more…

Changes in climate are causing alterations in sea ice formation resulting in a changing habitat for Pacific walrus. At this week's American Geophysical Union meeting, researchers presented findings from a joint NASA-US Fish and Wildlife Service study that assessed the use of satellite imagery for studying walrus habitat on sea ice. Read more…

Current rates of tapping frankincense -- which according to the Bible was given to the baby Jesus by the three wise men at Christmas and which will feature in thousands of Nativity plays in coming days -- are endangering the fragrant resin's sustained production, ecologists have warned. Writing in the December issue of Journal of Applied Ecology, ecologists from the Netherlands and Eritrea say that over tapping the trees results in fewer, less viable seeds. Read more…

Hundreds of millions of city dwellers breathe air so polluted with chemicals, smoke and particles that it dramatically exceeds World Health Organization limits with major impacts on health and the environment. Read more…

At the American Society for Cell Biology 2006 conference, scientists will describe the results of high-resolution 3-D images of two potential anticancer compounds at work against tumors in transparent fish. Read more…

By discovering a mutant mouse that is highly susceptible to mammary tumors, Cornell researchers have found a novel potential link between genetic defects in DNA replication and breast cancer. Read more…