Smoking before or after pregnancy may harm

Biohazard: Smoking before or after pregnancy may harm daughters' fertility
Smoking before pregnancy or during breastfeeding might impair the female offspring's fertility, a study in mice shows.

With the discovery of a fifth planet circling the nearby star 55 Cancri, astronomers have found the most abundant--and heaviest--planetary system beyond the sun's.

Superbug: What makes one bacterium so deadly
A molecule that pierces immune cells gives some aggressive antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria their fearsome virulence.

Shadow World: How many dimensions space has could all be a matter of perspective
Physicists have found new evidence for a 10-year-old conjecture that bridges the gap between the many-dimensional space of string theory and more familiar theorizing.

Crime Growth: Early mental ills fuel young-adult offending
Mental disorders in children can lead to criminal behavior in adulthood.

Bone Builder: Drug may offer steroid users new protection against fractures
A bone-growth medication called teriparatide outperforms the standard bone-preserving drug alendronate in people with steroid-induced osteoporosis.

Insects laughing at Bt toxin? Try this
A new countermeasure restores the toxicity of Bt pesticides to insects that have evolved resistance.

Too little sleep may fatten kids
Lack of sleep may promote childhood obesity.

Drinks lower glucose to protect heart

Moderate consumption of beer, wine, or gin lowers blood glucose, perhaps helping to stave off type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

The illicit drug methamphetamine alters immune proteins unleashed in the body, possibly explaining why some longtime methamphetamine abusers suffer heart problems.

A computer in every cell
Artificial genes inserted into cells make RNA molecules that can perform logical computations.

Nerves are key to longevity effect
The life-extending effect that some animals get from calorie-restricted diets may depend on signals from the brain.

A sweet way to replace petroleum?
Thanks to a new chemical process, many products now manufactured from petroleum could one day be made from sugar molecules.

Music to alien ears
Saturn's moon Titan may be the best rock concert venue in the solar system, according to computer simulations of sound propagation on other worlds.

Nanospheres leave cancer no place to hide

Gold-coated glass "nanoshells" can reveal the location of tumours and then destroy them minutes later in a burst of heat, according to new research. When injected into the bloodstream, the particles accumulate at the site of a tumour. The tumour sites can then be identified using low-power infrared light, and destroyed by applying a high-power infrared laser

If the universe has extra-spatial dimensions in parallel to the 3D we are used to, they might be seen in areas of extreme gravity around dense stars

A device that can hold hundreds of atoms in a 3D array, and image each one individually, has been developed by scientists in the US. The machine is an important stepping stone towards the development of a quantum computer

Beyond Ethanol: Synthetic fuel offers promising alternative
A faster, simpler manufacturing technique could make a synthetic biofuel into an even stronger competitor to ethanol.

Winged dragon
A quarry on the Virginia-North Carolina border has yielded fossils of an unusual gliding reptile that lived in the region about 220 million years ago.

Diabetes drug might hike heart risk
People who take rosiglitazone, a popular diabetes drug marketed as Avandia, may face an increased risk of heart attack.

Viagra may lessen effects of jet lag

Viagra helps laboratory rodents recovery from circadian disruptions similar to jet lag.

Fish Free Fall: Hormone leads to population decline
Trace amounts of the synthetic estrogen used in birth control pills can cause a fish population to collapse.

Babies see their way to language insights
Babies 4 to 6 months old can distinguish between two languages solely by watching a speaker's face, without hearing sound.

Migraines in men linked to heart attack risk
Men who experience migraine headaches are somewhat more likely to have heart attacks than are other men.

Unintended consequences of cancer therapies
Radiation and chemotherapy can destroy a tumor, but they may also indirectly promote metastasis, the spread of cancerous cells to other organs.

The new drugs are pH sensitive and only affect damaged tissue, resulting in fewer side effects.

Ice Age Ends Smashingly: Did a comet blow up over eastern Canada?
An extraterrestrial object apparently exploded above Canada about 12,900 years ago, sparking devastating wildfires and triggering a millennium-long cold spell.

Packaging Peril: Chemicals in food wrapping turn toxic
Chemicals that prevent grease from seeping through food packaging can transform into a suspected carcinogen.

Tea--Milking It
Adding milk doesn't diminish tea's antioxidant bounty, research finds.

Carbon's mysterious magnetism
An X-ray experiment has yielded the most conclusive evidence to date that carbon can be magnetic.

Magnets may make the brain grow stronger

Stimulating the brain with a magnetic coil appears to promote growth of new neurons - possibly leading to treatments for brain diseases

Bugs struck down by 'super-oxidised' water
A form of water packed with oxychlorine ions can kill bacteria and viruses, but is kinder on the human skin than bleach, say its developers

'Probiotics' could save frogs from extinction
Micro-organisms that inhabit the skin of amphibians have fungus-resistant properties that could help fight a devastating disease that is wiping out many species

A hammerhead shark born to a mother that had not come into contact with a male, is now proved to be the result of asexual reproduction

High-temperature superconducting power lines are set to boost the Big Apple's power supply - if an initial test line proves successful

Strange alien world made of 'hot ice'

The smallest planet known to pass in front of its host star has been found - it may be made of exotic hot ice and shrouded in steam
hot ice - hot (but solid) water

New gene therapy targets cholesterol
A form of RNA interference - called microRNA - has been used successfully to regulate gene expression in mice for the first time

Cellphones could warn of imminent lightning strike
Multiple receivers in cellphones can be tuned to detect pending lightning bolts using radio frequencies

Grinding ice generates Saturn moon's icy plumes
Saturn's gravity causes ice on its moon Enceladus to grind together, generating the icy plumes observed by Cassini, new calculations suggest

Childhood Vitamin D--A New Benefit?
Vitamin D may prevent symptoms of asthma in toddlers.

X-Ray Kin: Radiation risk is hereditary
Susceptibility to radiation-induced tumors runs in families.

Spinning into Control: High-tech reincarnations of an ancient way of storing energy
High-speed flywheels could replace batteries in hybrid vehicles and help make the electrical grid more reliable.

Slimming on oolong
Rats absorb less dietary fat and gain less weight when their diets contain lots of oolong tea

Audio collection to online resource Google Earth

A collection of enriched audio clips from all over the globe that took 40 years to collate will soon be linked to online resource Google Earth

Proof of collisions between different "pocket" universes could be detectable in the microwave background, according to a US scientist

People who have had more than five oral-sex partners appear 250% more likely to have throat cancer than those who do not engage in this activity

'Hoodie' increases a fiddler crab's chance of sex
Hopeful male fiddler crabs in areas frequented by predatory birds can increase their chances of mating if they build a shelter over their borrow entrance

Bizarre planet is hottest yet found
One of the most exotic exoplanets known just got a little weirder - new data shows it is the hottest and blackest ever discovered

abusing prescription painkillers
Vicodin (generic name hydrocodone) is a prescription painkiller that may also provide a euphoric high in many of the people who take it. This opiate-derived drug works by blocking pain signals in the brain that come from the nerves of the spinal cord. This action also happens to promote a sense of happiness and well being, leading to the addictive euphoria. Although these sensations may be sweet in the short term, side effects of long-term use can cause psychological dependence and physical damage, including hallucinations, severe confusion, constipation, dizziness, lightheadedness and even death. If Vicodin is used for longer than it is prescribed, it may lead to withdrawal symptoms when the person stops using it. Withdrawal symptoms, such as restlessness, muscle or bone pain, or insomnia, range from moderate to severe, and discontinued use of Vicodin or other similar drugs should be done under the supervision of a medical professional.

Degrees of Quantumness: Shades of gray in particle-wave duality
Light can be made to act as if it's composed of particles, waves, or something in between.

The Hunt for Antihelium: Finding a single heavy antimatter nucleus could revolutionize cosmology
Scientists have been searching about 30 years for a single nucleus of helium made from antimatter, and although the discovery would imply that whole antimatter galaxies exist, the researchers' time could be running out.