Boosting the photosynthetic efficiency of plants offers the best hope of increasing crop yields and feed a planet expected to have 9.5 billion people on it by 2050, according to a new report. 

Photosynthetic microbes offer other clues to improving photosynthesis in plants. For example, some bacteria and algae contain pigments that utilize more of the solar spectrum than plant pigments do. If added to plants, those pigments could bolster the plants' access to solar energy. Some scientists are trying to engineer C4 photosynthesis in C3 plants, but this means altering plant anatomy, changing the expression of many genes and inserting new genes from C4 plants.

A recent paper shows that it is possible to replace the clinical follow-up examinations recommended today with abortions that include a home pregnancy test while another paper contends that midwives can safely and effectively treat failed abortions and miscarriages in rural districts of Uganda.

The term 'incomplete abortion' is when there is residual tissue in the uterus following a failed abortion or a miscarriage. This can result in bleeding and infection and is a potentially life-threatening condition that can effectively be treated with the medicine misoprostol. Misoprostol is a prostaglandin analog that causes the uterus to contract and empty its contents.

Do you really cherish diversity? Self-identification on that issue tells us little, studies have shown that in America, liberals, for example, who claim to care more about diversity, are far more likely to unfriend people on social media who disagree with their beliefs, while both liberals and conservatives show a large amount of homophily, which makes them more polarized.

It isn't just the forests and tundra that can release climate warming and ozone-depleting chemicals, buildings can do it also, like when they crash into the ground following an earthquake and tsunami.  Emissions of these chemicals, called halocarbons, increased by 21 percent to 91 percent over typical levels,.

The 2011 Tohoku earthquake released thousands of tons of chemicals into the atmosphere, according to a new study which suggests that the thousands of buildings destroyed and damaged during the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan four years ago released 6,600 metric tons (7,275 U.S. tons) of gases stored in insulation, appliances and other equipment into the atmosphere. 

Nobody likes getting the flu, and it isn't fun, but for most people drinking fluids and getting some rest and waiting it out are all it takes.

But a small number of children who catch the influenza virus fall so ill they end up in the hospital, even needing ventilators to breathe, though family and friends recover easily. New research says that is due to a rare genetic mutation.

Science 2.0, a new methodology for collaboration, communication, publication and participation, has tackled the evolution of an important protein and discovered its connection in human history, as well as clues about its role in complex neurological diseases.