Researchers have discovered that the mysterious overweight stars known as blue stragglers are the result of 'stellar cannibalism', where plasma is gradually pulled from one star to another to form a massive, unusually hot star that appears younger than it is. The process takes place in binary stars ­ star systems consisting of two stars orbiting around their common centre of mass. This helps to resolve a long standing mystery in stellar evolution.

Two University of Toronto quantum physicists, Jeff Lundeen and Aephraim Steinberg, say they have shown that Hardy's paradox(1), a proposal that has confounded physicists and science journalists trying to explain it since the 1990s, can be both confirmed and resolved.    So take one more quantum problem out of the realm of 'impossible.'

A series of papers in the journal Zebrafish provides a comprehensive look at future directions of research on pigment biology, stating that model organisms such as zebrafish can advance the scientific understanding of the genetic basis of human skin color and race.

Guest Editors Keith C. Cheng, MD, PhD, Department of Pathology, Penn State College of Medicine, and David M. Parichy, PhD, Department of Biology, University of Washington, have compiled a  collection of scientific papers and historical perspectives on the study of pigmentation in zebrafish, a vertebrate that shares genetic mechanisms of skin color with humans.

Women appear to suffer more from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) than men, according to research published in Arthritis Research and Therapy.

A genetic variation involving the brain chemical serotonin has been found to shape the social behavior of rhesus macaque monkeys, which could provide researchers with a new model for studying autism, social anxiety and schizophrenia. Humans and macaques are the only members of the primate family to have this particular genetic trait. 

"We have found very similar gene-based disruptions in social rewards shared by monkeys and by humans," said Michael Platt, Ph.D., associate professor of neurobiology at Duke University Medical Center and author of the study in PLoS One.

The last thing scientists want to know is that either caffeine or beer could have negative effects on brain power because, let's face it, without those two things nothing would ever get done.

So we note with some concern a new research study that suggests high caffeine consumption could be linked to a greater tendency to hallucinate.   How much is too much?   7 cups of coffee per day, they say.  Not even a full pot!  So that leaves just beer.