You may not have been born a criminal, but experiences influence how genetic variants affect the brain and therefore behavior, according to a new paper. 

The study used a survey of 1,337 students aged 17 or 18 in Västmanland, a Swedish county, who anonymously completed questionnaires reporting on delinquency, family conflict, experiences of sexual abuse, and the quality of their relationship with their parents. They also provided a sample of saliva from which the researchers extracted DNA to examine it. The Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene is a key enzyme in the catabolism of brain neurotransmitters, monoamines, especially serotonin. Catabolism is the breaking down of complex materials and the releasing of energy within an organism. 

Your brain is still you. Andrew Mason, CC BY

By Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Duke University

Imagine that Brian promises to drive you to the airport but never shows up, and you miss your flight. When you confront Brian, he tells you that he remembered his promise but decided to watch a movie instead. Would you be angry? You betcha!

All complex life, including plants, animals and fungi, consists if of eukaryotic cells, cells with a nucleus, transport mechanisms and often organelles like mitochondria that perform the functions an organism needs to stay alive and healthy. Humans have 220 different kinds of eukaryotic cells which control everything from thinking and locomotion to reproduction and immune defense.

Because of that commonality, the evolution of the eukaryotic cell is considered one of the most critical events in the history of life on Earth. Without it, earth populated entirely by prokaryotes, single-celled organisms such as bacteria and archaea, with no chance at all of filming "Guardians of the Galaxy" or celebrating Christmas.

A new analysis to be presented next week at the American Geophysical Union's Fall Meeting in San Francisco says that extreme climate and weather events such as record high temperatures, intense downpours and severe storm surges are more common in many parts of the world.

It's hard to be sure. High quality weather records only go back about 30 years and even suspect quality records only go back 100, so there is inference between modern record-keeping and the data trapped in tree rings and ice cores from ancient times.

"You think you're in pain now, but this is not going to look good on Facebook tomorrow." Stefano Bolognini/National Museum of Denmark

By Arosha K Bandara, The Open University

The latest paper by the ATLAS Collaboration is a very detailed report of the search for Higgs boson decays to W boson pairs in Run 1 data. The H->WW* process contributes significantly to the total bounty of Higgs boson candidates that the two CERN experiments have been able to collect in the 2011 7-TeV and 2012 8-TeV proton-proton collisions, but the presence of neutrinos in the final state prevents the clean reconstruction of an invariant mass peak, hence the WW* final state has remained a bit "in the shadows" with respect to the cherished ZZ* and gamma-gamma final states.

A study of 1,500 Americans found that media reports about behavioral genetics create unfounded beliefs about what genes can and cannot do, which defeats the purpose of scientific reporting, according to a new analysis.

American adults lead the world in science literacy so results may be even more profound in other countries, where political interests control more of scientific policy.

All the better for hearing you with. Boris Roessler/EPA

By Victoria Ratcliffe, University of Sussex and David Reby, University of Sussex

Sometimes it may seem like your dog doesn’t want to listen.

But in our study, however, we’ve found that he may understand more than he lets on.

Diseases of dysfunctional mitochondria, also known as mitochondrial diseases, have a prevalence of  up to 1 in 2,000 people and predominantly affect children, though adult-onset disorders are also recognized. An international collaboration has discovered that mutations in the GTPBP3 gene cause defects in protein synthesis in mitochondria and are associated with a devastating disease.

Mitochondria are compartments present in every cell of the body except red blood cells and are responsible for generating almost all of the energy needed by the body to sustain life and to grow. In mitochondria, energy is produced by a large number of proteins, which are manufactured according to a blueprint, the cell’s DNA. 

Braving the eye of the bomb. Danny Lawson/PA

By Edward Hanna, University of Sheffield

A dramatically-named “weather bomb” exploded across the UK in the past week, bringing winds gusting up to 144 mph on outlying islands.

But despite the cool name these “bombs” are more common than you might think.