In the 1980s, the discovery of soccer-ball-shaped carbon molecules called buckyballs helped to spur an explosion in nanotechnology research.

Now, there appears to be a new ball on the pitch - a cluster of 40 boron atoms forms a hollow molecular cage similar to a carbon buckyball. It's the first experimental evidence that a boron cage structure, previously only a matter of speculation, does indeed exist.

Carbon buckyballs are made of 60 carbon atoms arranged in pentagons and hexagons to form a sphere—like a soccer ball. Their discovery in 1985 was soon followed by discoveries of other hollow carbon structures including carbon nanotubes. Another famous carbon nanomaterial—a one-atom-thick sheet called graphene—followed shortly after.

A new study finds that Silverback gorillas appear to use odor as a form of communication with other gorillas.

Recent evidence has demonstrated that transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells can stimulate neurogenesis in the brain of adult rat or mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and improve tissue and function injury under the condition of cerebral ischemia. Few studies are reported on the therapeutic effect of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) transplantation in mice with AD and on the effect on oxidative injury and neurogenesis in the brain of AD mice. Dr. Yufang Yan and her team, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, China transplanted ADSCs into the hippocampus of APP/PS1 transgenic AD model mice.

Women would benefit from being prescribed exercise as medicine, according to a study finding that moderate to high intensity activity is essential to reducing the risk of death in older women.

Professor Debra Anderson, from Queensland University of Technology's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, said that in addition to conventional treatments for physical and mental health, health professionals should be prescribing tailored exercise programs for older women.

The paper by Anderson and Queensland University of Technology's Dr Charlotte Seib pulls together five years of research looking into the impact of exercise on mental and physical health in women over the age of 50.

Researchers have evaluated the safety and reliability of the existing targeted gene correction technologies, and successfully developed a new method, TALEN-HDAdV, which could significantly increased gene-correction efficiency in human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC). 

The combination of stem cells and targeted genome editing technology provides a powerful tool to model human diseases and develop potential cell replacement therapy. Although the utility of genome editing has been extensively documented, but the impact of these technologies on mutational load at the whole-genome level remains unclear.

Social animals often develop relationships with other group members to reduce aggression and gain access to scarce resources. In wild chacma baboons the strategy for grooming activities shows a certain pattern across the day - they have ulterior motives.