An unusual hexagonal shape surrounding Saturn's north pole was spotted on the planet for the first time thirty years ago and nothing similar, with such a regular geometry, has been found on any other (non-Earth, obviously) planet in the Solar System. 

That's not the only mystery. Saturn is the only planet in the Solar System whose rotation time remains unknown.  

Writing in Geophysical Research Letters, the University of the Basque Country Planetary Sciences Group has now been able to study and measure the phenomenon and, among other achievements, establish its rotation period. What is more, this period could be the same as that of the planet itself. 

Rubén Martínez, a graduate in Biology and Biochemistry at Elhuyar Fundazioa, and colleagues have developed a new methodology that makes it possible to know what physiological state the yeast is in at each point in the wine fermentation process. 

This knowledge is of particular interest for producers, since changes in the grape directly affect the chemical composition of the must.

Some of the carbon, like the black soot and charcoal residue of fires, that finds its way into Earth's oceans stays there for thousands for years, and some of the black carbon breaks away and hitches a ride to the ocean floor on passing particles.

Virtually all black carbon results from combustion. Soot, the airborne version of black carbon, is a key element of smoke. Charcoal is another form of black carbon. Each form is produced naturally by wildfires, as well by industry and other human activities.

Research that  evaluated whether the drug cetuximab and chemotherapy together worked better than chemotherapy alone as a treatment in addition to surgery for people with bowel cancer that had spread to the liver but could be surgically removed, found it is not effective in some settings, and indeed may result in more rapid cancer progression.

The New EPOC study in The Lancet Oncology details that the trial patients either received chemotherapy on its own or chemotherapy combined with cetuximab. Patients received their specified treatment for 12 weeks. They then had surgery and followed by their specified treatment for another 12 weeks. Patients were then monitored via CT or MRI scans.

Want to turn a liberal into a conservative? Present the prospect of a racial minority becoming the overall majority in the United States, according to an analysis of Pew Research data.

White Americans across the spectrum move more toward the conservative end of the political spectrum, according to a paper in Psychological Science which suggests that increased diversity in the United States could actually lead to a wider partisan divide. Of course, it depends on the minority. Legal immigrant minorities are overwhelmingly more conservative already.

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by scientists at the University of Queensland, Australia, overturns a long-held theory in plant science [see:http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=11631]. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory who are co-authors on this paper conducted critical radiotracer studies that support the new theory that plant sugars play a dominant role in regulating branching at plant stems. While branching has relevance in agriculture, it is also very important in bioenergy crop production.

A new study suggests that early humans living thousands of years before Neanderthals, were able to work together in groups to hunt and slaughter animals as large as the prehistoric elephant.

University of Southampton archaeologist Dr. Francis Wenban-Smith discovered a site containing remains of an extinct straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) in 2003, in an area of land at Ebbsfleet in Kent, during the construction of the High Speed 1 rail link from the Channel Tunnel to London. Investigation of the area was carried out with independent heritage organization Oxford Archaeology, with the support of HS1 Ltd.

Four young men who have been paralyzed for years achieved groundbreaking progress — moving their legs.

Writing in the journal Brain, the researchers from the University of Louisville, UCLA and the Pavlov Institute of Physiology say the breakthrough is a result of epidural electrical stimulation of the spinal cord. All four participants were classified as suffering from chronic, motor complete spinal cord injuries and were unable to move their lower extremities prior to the implantation of an epidural stimulator. The stimulator delivers a continuous electrical current to the participants' lower spinal cords, mimicking signals the brain normally transmits to initiate movement.

Researchers have developed a system allowing neurophysiologists to share raw data with each other, something they hope will generate new discoveries in the field.

The first type of data they collected and standardized are recordings of so called ‘retinal waves’. During early development, retinal neurons generate signals that rapidly spread across from one cell to another, much like a Mexican wave in a football stadium. These patterns of activity are thought to help forge the neural connections from the eye to the brain.

We can identify an athletic body by analysis of their skeletons because bones show remarkably rapid adaptation to both the intensity and direction of strains. Put under stress through physical exertion – such as long-distance walking or running – they gain in strength as the fibers are added or redistributed according to where strains are highest.