ScienceDaily: Top News

Researchers studying locusts have found that the presence of smell can be determined by simply adding and subtracting the presence of certain neurons.

The recovery of the fisher, a charismatic, long-tailed forest carnivore, will likely be hindered by the increasing frequency and intensity of future wildfires, new research indicates.

Results of a new study represent a step toward improving our understanding of Crohn's disease and the factors that cause its intestinal inflammation.

Whether a transformer catches fire in a power grid, a species disappears from an ecosystem, or water floods a city street, many systems can absorb a certain amount of disruption. But how badly does a single failure weaken the network? And how much damage can it take before it tips into collapse?

Newly developed risk scores synthesize genetic information into an easy-to-interpret metric that could help clinicians identify young children most at risk of developing obesity. The study used a novel statistical methods to establish scoring criteria using data collected from children from birth to three years of age.

A research team has discovered new neural circuits that regulate spatial learning and memory in the brain's hippocampal formation. The team identified novel functional roles of new circuit connections between the venal CA1 region and dorsal CA3 regions of the hippocampus and demonstrated that genetic inactivation of this projection impairs object-related spatial learning and memory, but does not modulate anxiety-related behaviors.

Researchers have developed an optical biopsy system that can distinguish between cancerous and healthy liver tissue. The technology makes use of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and lifetime fluorescence measurements to evaluate makers of cellular metabolism that differ between healthy and cancerous cells. The system has higher accuracy than traditional biopsies, possibly making liver cancer diagnosis easier.