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.

In an effort that reaches back to the 19th-century laboratories of Europe, a discovery by chemistry researchers establishes new possibilities for the semiconductor industry - chemists have been able to trap molecular species of silicon oxides. 

Turmeric, the familiar yellow spice common in Indian and Asian cooking, may play a therapeutic role in oral cancers associated with human papillomavirus, according to new research published in ecancermedicalscience. One of the herb's key active ingredients - an antioxidant called curcumin - appears to have a quelling effect on the activity of human papillomavirus (HPV).

HPV is a virus that promotes the development of cervical and oral cancer. There is no cure, but curcumin may offer a means of future control.

"Turmeric has established antiviral and anti-cancer properties," says corresponding author Dr. Alok Mishra of Emory University. "And according to our new findings, we could say that it's good for oral health too."

New ophthalmology research finds that dry eye - the little understood culprit behind red, watery, gritty feeling eyes - strikes most often in spring, just as airborne allergens are surging, the first direct correlation between seasonal allergens and dry eye, with both pollen and dry eye cases reaching a yearly peak in the month of April.