An international team of researchers say they have discovered a blueprint for a general understanding of the evolution of the "machinery" of our cells providing more evidence, at the molecular level, in support of one of the key tenets of Darwin's Theory of Evolution.

A non-Darwinian explanation, from believers of Intelligent Design, proposed these complex machines to be "irreducibly complex". In other words they are so neatly complex and complete that they couldn't have evolved but rather must have been designed by an intelligent entity.

The Cassini spacecraft's Magnetospheric Imaging instrument (MIMI) has detected a temporary radiation belt around Dione, one of the moons of Saturn.  The discovery will be presented at the European Planetary Science Congress in Potsdam by Dr Elias Roussos on Monday, September 14th.

Radiation belts, like Earth’s Van Allen belts, have been discovered at Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune but it has only been possible to observe the variability of their intensity at Earth and Jupiter.   Cassini has been orbiting Saturn for more than five years so it has been possible to assess changes in Saturn’s radiation belts.

Polymer solar cells don't have the high efficiencies of the silicon kind yet, which isn't saying much, but they can be printed in roll-to-roll processes and at very high speeds so in time the technology could be very cost-effective.  Polymer solar cells are also flexible and lightweight so they could be used on vehicles or clothing or to be incorporated in the design of objects.

Researchers from the Eindhoven University of Technology and the University of Ulm have made the first high-resolution 3D images of the inside of a polymer solar cell, giving them new insights in the nanoscale structure of polymer solar cells and its effect on the performance.

You may know that correlation studies have shown that the risk of becoming obese is 2.5 times higher for those who have double copies of the best known risk gene for being overweight or obese, the FTO gene (fat mass and obesity associated).

New discoveries of that sort have led to a resurgence in concern that we may be slaves to our genes, but is that the case?  No, in every study obesity still required high calorie consumption, especially fat.   A low fat diet neutralizes the harmful effects of the gene.

The smell of 'death' that repels insects turns out to be a truly ancient signal for avoiding disease or predators, says David Rollo, professor of biology at McMaster University in the journal Evolutionary Biology.

What do the death stench of corpses of from insects to crustaceans all have in common?   A blend of specific fatty acids. 

Because insects and crustaceans diverged more than 400-million years ago it is likely that most subsequent species recognize their dead in a similar way, that the origin of such signals was likely even older, and that such behavior initially occurred in aquatic environments (few crustaceans are terrestrial). 

Older people have noticed their thinner arms and legs and perhaps you have as well.   It's no secret muscle is harder to maintain, much less build, as we age but science was unclear exactly why.    

A team of researchers the University of Nottingham Schools of Graduate Entry Medicine and Biomedical Sciences say that the suppression of muscle breakdown, which also happens during feeding, is blunted with age. 

Muscle mass is important because a loss of muscle which decreases strength and increases the likelihood of falls and fractures - and a 'double whammy' affects people aged over 65.  But weight training may 'rejuvenate' muscle blood flow and help retain muscle for older people.