Will review reports published with articles enhance peer review quality? 

Atheists like to think they are more rational people but, as death approaches, they secretly play the irrational odds, according to new work which suggests that when even non-religious people think about their own death and consciously still seem to be more skeptical about religion, they unconsciously grow more receptive to religious belief.  Or at least less likely to deny it. 

The work from the Department of Psychology at the University of Otago in New Zealand, predictably also found that when religious people think about death, their religious beliefs appear to strengthen at both conscious and unconscious levels. They believe these findings help explain why religion remains a durable feature of human society. 

Some microorganisms lose the ability to perform a function that appears to be necessary for their survival, and yet they still somehow manage to endure and multiply. How can that be? 

One hypothesis says microbes that shed necessary functions are getting others to 'do that work' for them, an adaptation that can encourage microorganisms to live in cooperative communities. Yes, genetic inter-organism cooperation and adaptive gene loss.

Approaching the 100th anniversary of the maiden voyage and subsequent nearly immediate sinking of the ship marketed as 'unsinkable' - the RMS Titanic, also known as the world's largest metaphor - it has become synonymous with bold claims that ironically come back to haunt the claimants.

In science, Lord Kelvin is a popular example of that, believed to have said "There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now, All that remains is more and more precise measurement" shortly before Albert Einstein took the lid off of physics and shook the whole concept around.

Scientists think they have found a way to prevent and possibly reverse the most debilitating symptoms of the rare, progressive childhood degenerative disease called ataxia-telangiectasia, or A-T disease, that leaves children with slurred speech, unable to walk, and in a wheelchair before they reach adolescence.

Most breast cancers are categorized as estrogen-receptor positive, which means they are hormone sensitive and may need estrogen to grow. Patients with this type of cancer often respond favorably to aromatase inhibitors, like tamoxifen, which cause cell death by preventing estrogen from reaching the cancerous cells. Over time, the disease often becomes resistant to estrogen deprivation from the drugs, making treatment options more limited. 

New findings from the AACR Annual Meeting identified a pair of proteins that could play a crucial role in restoring treatment sensitivity to these resistant cancerous cells—possibly leading to more treatment options in the future.

People don't always see it , especially if social change does not move fast enough for their special interest, but the military has always been on the forefront of social issues. 

A famous American general, John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, got that nickname because he proudly commanded the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry - the "Negro Cavalry" as Native Americans of the 19th century called them - and Pershing didn't want it any other way.  He wanted to win and that meant the best people.

We are fortune here at Science20 to have come across an early work by Gaston Leroux.  This manuscript was dated to 1899, suggesting it was an early, discarded draft of the work that later came to be known as "The Phantom of the Opera".  Current speculation is Gaston changed the setting at the beheast of his editor.  Here, then, is the unabridged transcript of that early draft.  It is set in the historic 1899 Paris Academie des Sciences, and begins with the arrival of two new managers to this prosperous yet troubled place.

[Secretary] "Welcome, new Branch Heads, to our Paris Laboratory!  We owe our success to Professor Carlotta, though we do have a new post-doc named Christine Daei.  Good luck with the upcoming grant season!"

Fresh from ironing out the mechanical difficulties in the faster-than-light neutrino, CERN and OPERA have licensed the technology to soda giant Pepsi, which will use neutrinos instead of dissolved carbon dioxide to create the drink's iconic fizz.

"This truly is the choice of a new generation," says Pepsi CEO, Indra Nooyi.

Ridicule might delay truth but it can't replace it. In recent weeks astonishing rumors have been spreading fast in science circles, and soon the wider public will be in the know. According to these rumors, despite all the denial and ridicule, planet Nibiru is real. Yes, you read that correctly. Nibiru is a fact. Science leaders are ready to admit the observation of Nibiru.

This rogue object was there all the time. Right under our eyes. Since the days of Galileo we are aware of its existence. Initially it was mistaken for a star, and later for a solar system planet. It's neither.