Evidence for a thin veil of carbon has been found on the neutron star in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant. This discovery, made with NASA`s Chandra X-ray Observatory, resolves a ten-year mystery surrounding this object. "The compact star at the center of this famous supernova remnant has been an enigma since its discovery," said Wynn Ho of the University of Southampton and lead author ...

Cornell researchers have discovered a genetic mechanism in fruit flies that prevents two closely related species from reproducing, a finding that offers clues to how species evolve. When two populations of a species become geographically isolated from each other, their genes diverge from one another over time. Eventually, when a male from one group mates with a female from the other group, the off...

Tsuruta et al. find that a lipid kinase directs a voltage-gated calcium channel`s degradation to save neurons from a lethal dose of overexcitement. The study appears in the October 19, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology. An important player in cellular signaling, calcium is also terribly toxic at high levels. Neurons have evolved ways to protect themselves against the calcium influxes that ...

Keeping track of time is one of the brain`s most important tasks. As the brain processes the flood of sights and sounds it encounters, it must also remember when each event occurred. But how does that happen? How does your brain recall that you brushed your teeth before you took a shower, and not the other way around? For decades, neuroscientists have theorized that the brain "time stamps&quo...

A clever structure in the ear of a tropical butterfly that potentially makes it able to distinguish between high and low pitch sounds has been discovered by scientists from the University of Bristol. The team believes that the remarkable structure may be associated with the detection of predators, in particular birds. The Blue Morpho butterflies (Morpho peleides), native to Central and South Ameri...

A toxin produced by mold on nuts and grains can cause liver cancer if consumed in large quantities. UC Irvine researchers for the first time have discovered what triggers the toxin to form, which could lead to methods of limiting its production. Because of lax or nonexistent regulation, 4.5 billion people in developing countries are chronically exposed to vast amounts of this toxin, called aflatox...

Archaeologists have released an artist’s impression of what a second stone circle found a mile from Stonehenge might have looked like. The drawing shows the sensational discovery of “Blue Stonehenge” by a team led by archaeologists from Manchester, Sheffield and Bristol Universities on the West bank of the River Avon last month. Professor Julian Thomas, from The University of Man...

Scientists at the Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) have determined how the master gene regulator p53 could switch a gene in a cell "on" or "off" by recognizing specific sequences of nucleotides in the gene`s DNA. Their findings provide a missing piece about p53 gene repression that has eluded researchers investigating the master regulator, which undergoes mutations or deleti...

Scientists have discovered how oxygen stops green algae from producing hydrogen. The findings could help those working towards ‘solar H2-farms’ in which microorganisms produce hydrogen fuel from sunlight and water. An international team of scientists from Oxford University and universities in Germany report their results in two new papers, one in the journal JACS and one in PNAS. For y...

A dark red area discovered on the dwarf planet Haumea appears to be richer in minerals and organic compounds than the surrounding icy surface. The discovery will be presented at the European Planetary Science Congress in Potsdam by Dr Pedro Lacerda on Wednesday 16 September. The spot was discovered by measuring changes in its brightness as it rotates. The origin of the spot is unknown, however its...