A new study of embryonic stem cells shows that mammalian genes may all have a layer of control that acts like the pause button on your DVR, previously thought to be a peculiarity of particular genes.

The research demonstrates that the infamous cancer gene c-Myc plays a major role in the pause release of many genes throughout the genome and may have practical application in the treatment of some of the nastiest cancers.

The findings were reported this week in Cell.

An international team of astrophysicists has just unveiled the most complete atlas of nuclear rings, enormous star-forming ring-shaped regions that circle certain galactic nuclei.

The catalog, just published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, covers 113 nuclear rings in 107 different galaxies. Six are dust rings in elliptical galaxies; the rest are star-forming rings in disc galaxies.

Despite present-day conditions, Antarctica was not always covered with ice. Approximately 53 million years ago, the continent was a warm, sub-tropical environment and atmospheric CO2 levels exceeded today's by ten times.

But in just 400,000 years – a mere blink of an eye in geologic time –  Antarctica's lush environment transitioned into its modern icy realm. Concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide decreased, global temperatures dropped, ice sheets developed and Antarctica became ice-bound.

How did this change happen so abruptly and how stable can we expect ice sheets to be in the future? New ice core data retrieved from the Wilkes Land region of Antarctica may help answer those questions.

Blinking eyes might be a sign of a wandering mind, according to a new study in Psychological Science. Researchers from the University of Waterloo found that when subjects' minds wandered, they blinked more, setting up a tiny physical barrier between themselves and the outside world.

The study was inspired by brain research that shows, when the mind wanders, the parts of the brain that process external goings-on are less active.

A new study of island lizards suggests that geographical isolation may not be as important to evolution as previously thought.

The new research, published in PLoS Genetics, shows that even those lizards that have been geographically isolated for many millions of years have not evolved into separate species as predicted by conventional evolutionary theory.

The findings reject allopatric speciation in a case study from a system thought to exemplify it, the researchers say, and suggest the potential importance of speciation due to differences in ecological conditions (ecological speciation).  

Astronomers have found evidence of water ice and organic material on the asteroid 24 Themis. The findings, detailed in Nature, support the idea that asteroids could be responsible for bringing water and organic material to Earth, researchers say.

Using NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility on Hawaii's Mauna Kea, astronomers examined the surface of 24 Themis, a 200-kilometer wide asteroid that sits halfway between Mars and Jupiter. By measuring the spectrum of infrared sunlight reflected by the object, the researchers found the spectrum consistent with frozen water and determined that 24 Themis is coated with a thin film of ice. They also detected organic material.