A new international study casts doubt on the leading theory of what causes ice ages around the world -- changes in the way the Earth orbits the sun.

The researchers found that glacier movement in the Southern Hemisphere is influenced primarily by sea surface temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide rather than changes in the Earth's orbit, which are thought to drive the advance and retreat of ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere.

The findings appear in the journal Geology. A PDF is available on request.

Scientists should reduce antibiotic use in lab experiments - according to a researcher at the University of East Anglia.

Microbiology, molecular biology and genetic research such as the Human Genome Project use antibiotics in experiments.

But it all adds to the global problem of antibiotic resistance according to Dr Laura Bowater, from UEA's Norwich Medical School.

A new article published today in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy highlights the problem.

Dr Bowater said: "The discovery of antibiotics was heralded as a magic bullet for modern medicine. Using antibiotics in research has transformed scientific discovery. But now antibiotic resistance is a catastrophic threat -and it threatens the achievements of modern medicine.

Recycling plastic works, additives to biodegrade plastic do not, according to a new study from Michigan State University which finds that several additives that claim to break down polyethylene (i.e., plastic bags) and polyethylene terephthalate (i.e., soda bottles) simply don't work in common disposal situations such as landfills or composting.

"Making improper or unsubstantiated claims can produce consumer backlash, fill the environment with unwanted polymer debris and expose companies to legal penalties," said Susan Selke, co-author of the study and MSU packaging professor.

Credit: Courtesy of MSU

Like dancers swirling on the dance floor with bystanders looking on, protons and neutrons that have briefly paired up in the nucleus have higher-average momentum, leaving less for non-paired nucleons. Using data from nuclear physics experiments carried out at the Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, researchers have now shown for the first time that this phenomenon exists in nuclei heavier than carbon, including aluminum, iron and lead.

In January of 2015 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) lowered the threshold value for bisphenol A in packaging.  The scientific determination behind that is irrelevant at this point, the only times Europe backs off on bizarre science assertions are when it comes to things like making ugly fruit illegal to sell or claiming water does not cure thirst, so companies are stuck with creating dubious alternatives or just using less, but the public is often educated by advertising so they want less of it in the environment.

Chronic pain is a common complaint affecting millions of people worldwide. Because it is often a non-specific symptom, proper treatment strategies are more like 'keep doing things until something works'.

A new study has identified a cellular mechanism in the brain of mice that contributes to the development of chronic pain, which the authors believe can lead to a novel pharmacological treatment strategy for chronic pain.