A common heart disease which kills thousands each year may be passed genetically from father to son, according to a new study.

Tarsiers' ultrasonic calls -- among the most extreme in the animal kingdom -- give them a "private channel" of communication, says an anthropologist.

Ever gone to the movies and forgotten where you parked the car? New research may one day help you improve your memory. Neuroscientists have demonstrated that they can strengthen memory in human patients by stimulating a critical junction in the brain.

During January, warmer-than-average conditions enveloped most of the contiguous United States, with widespread below-average precipitation. The overall weather pattern for the month was reflected in the lack of snow for much of the Northern Plains, Midwest, and Northeast. This scenario was in stark contrast to Alaska where several towns had their coldest January on record.

DNA sequences from tumor cells can be used to direct the immune system to attack cancer, according to scientists. The immune system relies on an intricate network of alarm bells, targets and safety brakes to determine when and what to attack. The new results suggest that scientists may now be able to combine DNA sequencing data with their knowledge of the triggers and targets that set off immune alarms to more precisely develop vaccines and other immunotherapies for cancer.

Scientists searching for the genomics version of the holy grail – more insight into predicting how an animal’s genes affect physical or behavioral traits – now have a reference manual that should speed gene discoveries in everything from pest control to personalized medicine.

New study finds that short fasting cycles can work as well as chemotherapy, and the two combined greatly improve survival.

Gene therapy for congenital blindness took another step forward, as researchers further improved vision in three adult patients previously treated in one eye. The patients were better able to see in dim light, with no adverse effects.

When low-income cohabiting couples with children decide to no longer live together, that doesn’t necessarily mean the end of their romantic relationship, a new study suggests.

Scientists have tapped onto the visual cortex of the congenitally blind by using sensory substitution devices (SSDs), enabling the blind in effect to "see" and even describe objects. SSDs are non-invasive sensory aids that provide visual information to the blind via their existing senses. For example, using a visual-to-auditory SSD in a clinical or everyday setting, users wear a miniature video camera connected to a small computer (or smart phone) and stereo headphones. The images are converted into "soundscapes," using a predictable algorithm, allowing the user to listen to and then interpret the visual information coming from the camera.

New images of a nearby dwarf galaxy have revealed a dense stream of stars in its outer regions, the remains of an even smaller companion galaxy in the process of merging with its host. The host galaxy, known as NGC 4449, is the smallest primary galaxy in which a stellar stream from an ongoing merger has been identified and studied in detail.

The giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way may be vaporizing and devouring asteroids, which could explain the frequent flares observed, according to astronomers.

A new study was designed to test whether Omega-3 fatty acids improve clinical symptoms, and help adolescents and young adults (ages 12 to 25) who are at elevated risk for severe psychiatric disorders function better in school, work and other social environments.

Biologists have found new evidence of why mice, people and other vertebrate animals carry thousands of varieties of genes to make immune-system proteins named MHCs -- even though some of those genes make vertebrate animals susceptible to infections and to autoimmune diseases.

A voluntary substance prevention program held after school and presented by trained facilitators can help reduce alcohol use among young adolescents, according to a new study.

Wind conditions at a fire scene can make a critical difference on the behavior of the blaze and the safety of firefighters, even indoors, according to a new report.

A research engineer combined a glass slide, plastic sheets and double-sided tape to build a "diffusion-based gradient generator", a tool to rapidly assess how changing concentrations of specific chemicals affect living cells.

Scientists have gathered new insight into the performance of a material called a zeolite that may filter carbon dioxide far more efficiently than current industrial "scrubbers" do.

You often hear about the Framers of the Constitution, but not so much the framers of the Magna Carta. They work for the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Not the authors, of course; they've been dead 700 years. But a NIST engineering team, at the behest of the National Archives, designed and built a state-of-the-art encasement and transport cart to protect the Archive's prized copy of the 1297 Magna Carta.

Individual cells modified to act as sensors using fluorescence are already useful tools in biochemistry, but now they can add good timing to their resume.