Western Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand now have birth rates that are relatively close to replacement, which means that the 'decline of the West', where developed nations birth control and abort themselves out of existence, isn't happening.

It's certainly a more optimistic demographic narrative of the future of the West than we usually get, where declining birth rates and population aging will reduce Europe and the US while Asian superpowers, such as China and India, see huge populations and economies to match. 

The ocean sucks up heat-trapping carbon dioxide (CO2) building up in our atmosphere with help from tiny plankton.

Like plants on land, plankton convert CO2 into organic carbon via photosynthesis and then can sink into the deep ocean, carrying carbon with them. They decompose when bacteria convert their remains back into CO2.

This "biological pump," if it operated 100 percent efficiently, would mean nearly every atom of carbon drawn into the ocean would be converted to organic carbon, sink into the deep ocean, and remain sequestered from the atmosphere for millennia. But like hail stones that melt before reaching the ground, some carbon never makes it to the deep ocean, allowing CO2 to leak back into the upper ocean and ultimately exchange with the atmosphere.

The first three eggs of the rare ‘Akeke‘e have hatched under the auspices of San Diego Zoo Global conservation biologists. The newly hatched chicks represent hope for the survival of a small Hawaiian honeycreeper.

Eggs from two species of rare Hawaiian honeycreeper birds, the ‘Akikiki and ‘Akeke‘e, were collected from native habitat earlier this month as part of an effort to preserve these two bird species from extinction.

3,000 children were treated in U.S. emergency departments in 2012 for eye injuries related to paintball guns, airsoft guns, BB guns and pellet guns - but the big increase was in airsoft guns. Paintball injuries have remained minor (0.4 per million children) and for over a decade BB gun manufacturers have restricted sales and marketing to minors, so there are not many "You'll shoot your eye out" moments due to those.

Investigators from the Stanford University School of Medicine found that the rates for eye injuries from non-bullet guns increased by 511% between 2010 and 2012, reaching 8.4 per million children and the rise was almost exclusively due to air gun related injuries, which parallels their growth in popularity.

Researchers have adapted an antiviral enzyme from bacteria called Cas9 into an instrument for inhibiting hepatitis C virus in human cells. Cas9 is part of the CRISPR genetic defense system in bacteria, which scientists have been harnessing to edit DNA in animals, plants and even human cells. In this case, Emory researchers are using Cas9 to put a clamp on RNA, which hepatitis C virus uses for its genetic material, rather than change cells' DNA.

Although several effective drugs are now available to treat hepatitis C infection, the approach could have biotechnology applications.

Autonomous locomotion for a macroscopic liquid metal machine has been made self-actuated when fueled with aluminum (Al) flake and now a much larger liquid metal machine has been made possible.

It can autonomously move and accelerate with an increase in temperature. When dividing a large running liquid metal vehicle into several smaller ones, each of them can still maintains its traveling state along the original track. If several dispersive vehicles moved close to each other, they can coalesce seamlessly, and then still kept moving forward.

American science-fiction cinema fans are either intrigued or horrified by this notion.