Even brief usage of anabolic steroids may have long lasting, perhaps even permanent performance-enhancing effects, according to a new study.

It was previously believed that re-acquisition of muscle mass after periods of inactivity was due to motor learning. The new data from an investigation of  the effects of steroids on muscle re-acquisition in mice suggests that there is a cellular 'memory mechanism' within muscle of brief steroid users.

The team investigated the effects of steroids on muscle re-acquisition in mice and discovered greater muscle mass and more myonuclei, which are essential components for muscle fiber function, were apparent after returning to exercise.

Hydraulic fracturing - fracking - is in the headlines a lot these days, and like all issues where science and policy mix, political opinion often outweighs facts.  Natural gas due to fracking has driven CO2 emissions from US energy back to early 1990s levels and emissions from coal back to early 1980s levels, while keeping heat affordable for America's poor.

An analysis of the nation's largest 10-kilometer road running races show that women are in the majority. Researchers analyzed data from more than 400,000 runners who participated in 10 of the largest 10K (6.2 mile) races in the U.S. from as early as 2002 through 2011.  

A discovery has allowed researchers to attribute two types of tumor almost entirely to specific mutations that lie in two related genes. These mutations are found in nearly 100 percent of patients suffering from two rare bone tumors; chondroblastoma and giant cell tumor of the bone.

Might we one day predict summer heat waves?

A distinctive atmospheric wave pattern high above the Northern Hemisphere can foreshadow the emergence of summertime heat waves in the United States more than two weeks in advance, according to research led by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) that could potentially forecast heat waves 15-20 days out. Heat waves are among the most deadly weather phenomena on Earth. A heat wave in Europe in 2003 killed more than 50,000 people. 

The largest international genetics collaboration focusing on Alzheimer's has identified 11 new regions of the genome that contribute to late-onset of the disease, doubling the number of potential genetics-based therapeutic targets to investigate.