Researchers have discovered how a protein molecule in immune cells promotes the production of nitric oxide, a potent weapon in the cells' arsenal to defend the body from bacterial attack. The protein may offer a target for reining in the inflammatory response, which must be able to fight infection without damaging tissue.

Computed tomography scans are the standard of care for diagnosing heart and lung conditions but there is worry more CT scans could mean a higher lifetime risk of cancer from radiation exposure.

A study, of 2,085 patients at nine centers in the U.S. and Middle East, found that using newer generation, dual-source CT scanners significantly reduced radiation exposure for patients when compared with first generation, 64-slice, single-source scanners or first generation, dual-source CT scanners.

Patient radiation exposure was reduced by 61 percent with the newer scanners, with no significant difference in image quality for patients having CT scans for coronary artery disease, pulmonary embolism or aortic disease.

In the past years, invisibility cloaks using metamaterials have developed for various senses. At certain wavelengths, objects can be hidden from light, for example, and even heat or sound.

But touch? That defies our The Invisible Man science-fiction sensibilities.

Yet Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)
scientists have done just that - they created a volume in which an object can be hidden from touching, they report in Nature Communications.  

Every time you see a model or actress on a magazine cover with an article bragging about how she lost her 'baby weight' a month after delivery, you should know it's probably not because she works harder than you or has a nanny. It's because she probably never gained a lot of the baby weight that occurs in the final month of pregnancy.

Elective early deliveries have become the latest craze for wealthy people - it isn't just the 1 percent, it is the 4 percent. Labor induction or cesarean delivery without medical reason before a baby is considered full-term at 39 weeks is associated with health problems for mothers and babies. But it's still become common, at 37 weeks and even sooner.

In May, NASA's Swift satellite imaged comet Siding Spring, which is going to play a bit of a game of chicken with  Mars later this year. 

"Fresh" comets like Siding Spring, which is formally known as C/2013 A1, contain some of the most ancient material scientists can study. The solid part of a comet, called its nucleus, is a clump of frozen gases mixed with dust and is often described as a "dirty snowball." Comets cast off gas and dust whenever they venture near enough to the sun.

The new optical and ultraviolet observations are the first to reveal how rapidly the comet is producing water and allow astronomers to better estimate its size. 

Doctors at the University of Arizona Cancer Center at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix report  in Lancet Oncology that a new treatment for ovarian cancer can improve response rates (increase the rate of tumor shrinkage) and prolong the time until cancers recur.  

Trebananib (formally known as AMG 386; Amgen) is a first-in-class peptide-Fc fusion protein (or peptibody) that targets angiogenesis (the growth of new blood vessels into cancerous tumors) by inhibiting the binding of both angiopoietin 1 and 2 to the Tie2 receptor.

This is a different mechanism of action than other agents that also effect angiogenesis by inhibiting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) such as bevacizumab (Avastin; Genentech).