Hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, the chemical that gives rotten eggs their sulfurous stench -- and the same compound that researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center successfully have used to put mice into a state of reversible metabolic hibernation -- has now been shown to significantly increase life span and heat tolerance in the nematode worm, or C. elegans.

The number of school students in Britain who believe in creationism is becoming a growing concern for science teachers, according to Professor Richard Dawkins.

Although behavioral studies clearly indicate that exposure to drugs, alcohol and tobacco in utero is bad for a baby’s developing brain, specific anatomic brain effects have been hard to tease out in humans. Often users don’t limit themselves to one substance, and demographic factors like poverty can also influence brain development.

Imagine fungi processing audio signals, E. Coli storing images, and DNA acting as logic circuits. It’s possible, and in some cases, it’s already happened.

A recent University of Iowa study reveals a biological link between pain and fatigue and may help explain why more women than men are diagnosed with chronic pain and fatigue conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Dr. Robert Poston is a pioneer in the use of robotics for minimally invasive cardiac surgery. He recently joined Boston Medical Center (BMC) as chief of cardiac surgery. With his arrival, BMC has become one of only one of 9 hospitals across the country, and the only hospital in Boston, to offer robot-assisted minimally invasive coronary artery bypass, the most advanced treatment available for coronary artery disease (the most common form of heart disease -- 16 million Americans have -- and the leading cause of death -- 1 million/year --in the U.S.)

Researchers have made a breakthrough in the development of "green gasoline," a liquid identical to standard gasoline yet created from sustainable biomass sources like switchgrass and poplar trees.

One of the most popular storylines in science fiction is the one about the computer that eventually outsmarts its creator. The machine's maker either comes to a sticky end at the hands of his invention or puts it to work in a plot to dominate the world. Professor Nik Kasabov, head of the Knowledge Engineering Discovery Research Institute (KEDRI) at AUT University, has no fears of falling victim to a silicon-based killing machine -- not for another 40 or 50 years, at any rate.

John McCarthy is an optimist. Yet the field McCarthy is most commonly associated with, artificial intelligence, has made little progress since 1956, when he convened the first Dartmouth conference.

It's not Yasgur's Farm, but what happens at the Konrad Lorenz Institute in Altenberg, Austria this July promises to be far more transforming for the world than Woodstock. What it amounts to is a gathering of 16 biologists and philosophers of rock star stature -- let's call them "the Altenberg 16" -- who recognize that the theory of evolution which most practicing biologists accept and which is taught in classrooms today, is inadequate in explaining our existence. It's pre the discovery of DNA, lacks a theory for body form and does not accomodate "other" new phenomena. So the theory Charles Darwin gave us, which was dusted off and repackaged 70 years ago, seems about to be reborn as the "Extended Evolutionary Synthesis."

Identical twins are identical, right? After all, they derive from just one fertilized egg, which contains one set of genetic instructions, or genome, formed from combining the chromosomes of mother and father. But experience shows that identical twins are rarely completely the same. Until recently, any differences between twins had largely been attributed to environmental influences (otherwise known as "nurture"), but a recent study contradicts that belief.

In March 2007, Microsoft Research organised the ‘HCI 2020’ meeting at the El Bulli Hacienda Hotel near Seville, Spain. The event’s title expressed its key question: what will Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) be like in the year 2020? HCI 2020 produced many ideas, both thrilling and troubling. This report is not a conventional publication of an academic conference but seeks to convey the passion of those ideas, both for the general reader and the HCI practitioner. For the general reader, this is important because knowledge of what the future might be may empower, while ignorance harm. For the HCI practitioner, its purpose is to map out the terrain and suggest new approaches while keeping an eye on the main prize: the embodiment of human values at the heart of computing.

Abstract: Recent studies have suggested that some neural computational mechanisms are based on the fine temporal structure of spiking activity. However, less effort has been devoted to investigating the evolutionary aspects of such mechanisms. In this paper we explore the issue of temporal neural computation from an evolutionary point of view, using a genetic simulation of the evolutionary development of neural systems.

It’s Ingrid Bell’s turn at bat. She steps up to the plate, awaiting the pitch. A 70-mph fastball soars toward her. She swings and connects with the ball. Foul ball! Everyone cheers for her anyway. This baseball game’s not taking place on a field, and there’s no real bat or ball to be seen. Mrs. Bell is playing the Nintendo Wii as part of her occupational therapy. She is among 30 Parkinson’s disease patients participating in a Medical College of Georgia study to determine if occupational therapy enhances the treatment of the disease.

The relationship between a thin liquid film or drop of liquid and the shape of the surface that it wets is explained with a new simplified mathematical formula published this week in Physical Review Letters.