Scientists have discovered a previously unidentified nearby source of high-energy cosmic rays. The finding was made with a NASA-funded balloon-borne instrument high over Antarctica.

A new class of compounds called phosphaplatins can effectively kill ovarian, testicular, head and neck cancer cells with potentially less toxicity than conventional drugs, according to a new study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

A growing number of geneticists are using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to systematically search for and identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which are single base changes in the human DNA sequence that can cause differences in genetic characteristics. GWAS may also detect genes that are associated with a particular health condition, or with variation in patient response to prescribed drugs.

Biologists have made major headway in explaining a mechanism by which plant cells silence potentially harmful genes. New research in Cell explains how RNA polymerases work together to use the non-coding region of DNA to prevent destructive, virus-derived genes from being activated. This research adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that "junk DNA" is in fact a functional part of the genome, since transcription of the intergenic regions is necessary to keep potentially harmful genes turned off.

When given a choice between viewing pictures of cocaine and a variety of other images, cocaine addicted individuals, as compared to healthy, non-addicted research subjects, show a clear preference for the drug-related images.

Physicists can now make droplets dance, float and bounce above a surface, keeping small amounts of fluid free of contamination and ripe for testing.

Scientists have completed the genome-wide sequence of an extinct animal. The scientists sequenced the genome of the woolly mammoth, an extinct species of elephant that was adapted to living in the cold environment of the northern hemisphere. They sequenced four billion DNA bases using next-generation DNA-sequencing instruments and a novel approach that reads ancient DNA highly efficiently.

A new study sheds new light on the way one of our cell enzymes, implicated in causing tissue damage after heart attacks and strokes, is normally kept under control.

Researchers say turtles nesting along the Mississippi River and other areas are altering their nesting dates in response to rising temperatures.

Working out on a stationary bicycle or walking on a treadmill just 25 to 30 minutes most days of the week is enough to modestly lower risk of hospitalization or death for patients with heart failure, say researchers.

A new study finds that breast cancer patients who participate in intervention sessions focusing on improving mood, coping effectively and altering health behaviors live longer than patients who do not receive such psychological support.

Offering better comfort to users of point-and-shoot digital cameras, and new designs for video glasses with the highest resolution ever, Microoled and the CEA-Leti have targeted these and many other potential applications with the announcement of the most efficient silicon-based OLED microdisplay in the world.

ric482 writes "With the release of the Mozilla Foundation's 2007 financial report, questions have been raised by the IRS who are due to perform an audit on the non-profit organization behind the massively popular Firefox browser. Last year the Foundation received $66 million of its total $75 million revenue (88 percent) from search engine maestro's Google, so the IRS are looking for blood over the organizations tax exempt status. Back in 2006, Mozilla got $59.5 million from Google — around 85 percent of the organizations revenue. Google and Mozilla are part of a 'you scratch my back, I'll pay your bills' sort of agreement with the Google search bar firmly placed in the toolbar, and on the default homepage. Things were a bit rocky a couple of months back when Google unveiled the Beta-run of its Chrome browser, but Mozilla and Google hugged it out and sealed a deal that will last for a further three years. That deal will expire in November 2011."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Astronauts to mark the 10th anniversary of the ISS with a Thursday spacewalk.

Frank Drake conducted the first modern SETI experiment in 1960.

Spacewalkers lost a tool bag while working to clean and grease a space station gear.

A puzzling surplus of high-energy electrons is bombarding Earth from space.

Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) will leave a $2 million experiment behind.

China on Tuesday dismissed suggestions that it is seeking to illegally obtain U.S. space technology.

Astronaut plumbers will hook up the space station's water recycling system today.