Scientists have discovered that mice genetically engineered to lack the VGLUT3 protein in the brain have profound deafness and seizures. The finding suggests a pathway for exploring the hereditary causes of deafness and epilepsy in humans.

More broadly, the discovery provides an entry point for gaining new insight into the role of glutamate, the chemical messenger carried by the protein, says the team, led by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco. Glutamate is involved in virtually every brain function, including sensory perception, learning and memory.

The missing protein is a particular “vesicular neurotransmitter transporter,” a machine within nerve cells that ferries chemical messengers, or “neurotransmitters,” from the fluid-filled cytoplasm into vesicles that are positioned at the tips of nerve cells and serve to release neurotransmitters onto neighboring cells. Transporters and neurotransmitters work together to make possible essentially all neural communication in the brain.

When the Stardust mission returned to Earth with samples from the comet Wild 2 in 2006, scientists knew the material would provide new clues about the formation of our solar system, but they didn’t know exactly how.

Contrary to expectations for a small icy body, much of the comet dust returned by the Stardust mission formed very close to the young sun and was altered from the solar system’s early materials.

New research by scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and collaborators reveals that, in addition to containing material that formed very close to the young sun, the dust from Wild 2 also is missing ingredients that would be expected in comet dust.

Has substantial progress been made in computers that can see like humans? Not as much as thought, according to MIT researchers. They say recent results are misleading because the tests being used are stacked in favor of computers.

Computer vision is important for applications ranging from “intelligent” cars to visual prosthetics for the blind. Recent computational models show apparently impressive progress, boasting 60% success rates in classifying natural photographic image sets.

The Syrian Archeological Team discovered parts of an architecture that included several tombs and funeral findings at Tal Shair site in the northeastern area of Hasaka dating back to the Middle Bronze Age in the 3rd millennium B.C.

Member of the Executive Bureau and in Charge of Tourism, Archeology and Arts Department Mohammad Shamsuddin in Hasaka Governorate said the team also discovered parts of another architecture made of stones and traditional ancient building blocks dating back to the Islamic period and part of a building dating back to the second half of the 3rd millennium B.C.

He added that the French archeological team also unearthed parts of another building as well as clay jars and spinning tools at Tal al-Faras site dating back to the 4th millennium B.C.

A new study has shed light on the genetic roots of obesity – a condition that is increasing dramatically in North America and has been linked to heart disease, diabetes and some forms of cancer.

The new findings may also help to unlock the mystery of how our nervous systems control obesity.

Researchers at Queen's University and the University of Toronto teamed up to work with tiny, transparent worms that have similar neurotransmitters (chemicals that transmit nerve impulses) as humans. They discovered that when a specific nerve receptor is deleted, the worms lose interest in foraging for food, become slow-moving and accumulate fat at a much higher rate than normal, non-modified, worms.

In discussions about the quality and equity of our educational system, one thing lost in political arguments about unions and ideological bias and No Child Left Behind is empirical data of what difference teachers make in actual education.

A special issue of Public Finance Review tackles the impact of teachers, focusing especially on the hiring and retention of qualified teachers, including in disadvantaged districts.

Some of the topics addressed: