Sometimes it is helpful to have a catchy word to describe one's type of research. I think that's why "omics" words are so popular -- they encapsulate a complex combination of approaches (usually something + genomics, or something-more-than-genomics) in a memorable way that immediately conveys the gist of the field.

"Metagenomics" is a good example -- it's the study of a larger assemblage of genomes than just one, usually from an environmental sample of microbes. "Proteiomics" is another, or "transcriptomics". Of course, this can get out of hand (see here).

A research team led by Dr Howard Falcon-Lang from Royal Holloway, University of London, analyzed spectacular discoveries of 300-million-year-old rainforests in Illinois coal mines and came to a conclusion that won't surprise most - Mother Nature is resilient.

Climate change wreaked havoc on these early rainforests but they quickly bounced back, they write in Geology.  The ancient rainforests date from the Carboniferous period, 300 million years ago, when most of the world's coal resources were formed.

Researchers writing in BMC Cancer say that post-menopausal women who engage in moderate or vigorous exercise have reduced risk of breast cancer.

Over 110,000 post menopausal women were asked to rate their level of physical activity at ages 15-18, 19-29, 35-39, and in the past 10 years. It was found, over 6.6 years of follow up, that women who engaged in more than 7 hours per week of moderate-to-vigorous exercise for the last ten years were 16% less likely to develop breast cancer than those who were inactive. However, no link was observed between breast cancer risk and physical activity in women who were active at a younger age.

There's drama in two galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, NGC 4522 and NGC 4402.    An extremely hot X-ray emitting gas known as the intra-cluster medium lurks between galaxies within clusters and, as galaxies move through this intra-cluster medium, strong winds rip through galaxies distorting their shape and even halting star formation - a process known as "ram pressure stripping".

Result: Peculiar looking galaxies.

Ram pressure is the drag force that results when something moves through a fluid — much like the wind you feel in your face when bicycling, even on a still day — and occurs in this context as galaxies orbiting about the centre of the cluster move through the intra-cluster medium, which then sweeps out gas from within the galaxies.

Women who considered themselves sexually satisfied had a higher overall psychological well-being score and scores for "positive well-being" and "vitality," compared with sexually dissatisfied women in a study of 295 women sexually active more than twice a month. The study was published today in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, also uncovered a positive association between age and well-being, but a negative association for general health.  The results applied to pre- and post-menopausal women.

In scoliosis treatment for babies, doctors often try bracing first and if that fails, they escalate to surgery; placing metal rods in their backs with spinal fusion.

These children face the risk of complications from the surgery and their backs and chests may be stiff for life.    New research from the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) may lead doctors to choose to optimize an old technology – casting – instead of using high-tech implantable devices. Casting has fewer, and less serious potential complications and it requires no surgery. In fact, with the right training and equipment, the specialized series of casts can be done as outpatient procedures.

Most recent intellectual developments in post-human complex systems (see, e.g., www.hesiodproject.net) perceptively conclude that “social equilibrium” is just a theoretical state. But it is also something quite undesirable. Equally undesirable is a linear, predictable, stable, orderly, homogenous and pure human world.

HIV/AIDS has been one of the most devastating diseases of the twenty first century. Since the discovery of the HIV virus, our research has demystified the life cycle and actions of the virus, but we have yet to develop a vaccine or adequate long term treatments to the infection.

Treatment options for HIV positive patients are limited. Anti-retroviral drugs have helped to significantly increase the quality of life for patients, but taking the highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) leads to HIV resistance and adaptation, leaving patients unable to control or suppress their viral load. 

Galileo merged the fields of cosmology and astronomy, thanks to his telescope, which gave scientists a more accurate way to observe and define the heavens. His telescope helped shift authority in the observation of nature from men to instruments. From backyard astronomers to the Hubble Telescope to the Vatican Observatory, Galileo’s impact on astronomy is both formative and lasting.

Here's an experiment.  Prepare for 3 days of hiking.  Pack light-- sleeping bag, tarp, knife, matches.  Bring protein bars and rice for food.  And then pick up 3 gallons (11 liters) of water and start walking.  What's the heaviest part of your gear?  Of course it's the water.

If we're going to get anywhere in this solar system, we need to go where there is water.  Everything else can be dehydrated, miniaturized, made more portable.  You can even make oxygen from water, just by adding some electricity (such as from solar power).  But water-- which also makes up most of our body-- is the one item we so desperately need, but can't mimic.