African, American, and European researchers working in collaboration over a 10-year period have released the largest-ever study of African genetic data—more than four million genotypes—providing a library of new information on the continent which is thought to be the source of the oldest settlements of modern humans.

The study demonstrates startling diversity on the continent, shared ancestry among geographically diverse groups and traces the origins of Africans and African Americans. It is published in the April 30 issue of the journal Science Express.

A team of scientists from Canada, Spain and the United States has identified a key gene that allows plants to defend themselves against environmental stresses like drought, freezing and heat. 

"Plants have stress hormones that they produce naturally and that signal adverse conditions and help them adapt," says team member Peter McCourt, a professor of cell and systems biology at the University of Toronto. "If we can control these hormones we should be able to protect crops from adverse environmental conditions which is very important in this day and age of global climate change."

Who among us hasn't been tempted to take the easy way out? Hopefully we choose to do the right thing, but this isn't always the case. It's bad enough when your actions just affect you. But when they affect the rest of the world? And mislead people working toward collective knowledge? That puts you on the ranks of the scales of depravity.

Part 1 dealt with the Rock of Love; part 2 examined anything with "real" in the title. Part 3 lists a few of the frauds, fakers and other cheaters in the realm of science.

HONG KONG, April 30 /PRNewswire/ --

TC Interconnect Holdings Limited (515.HK) (the Group / http://www.tatchun.com ), one of the top 10 Printed Circuit Board (PCB) manufacturers in Hong Kong and the PRC and listed on the Main Board of Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, announced that it shifted its focus from single-sided and double-sided PCBs to multi-layered PCBs and turnover from multi-layered products achieved a remarkable growth of 109.6% to approximately HK$329,932,000 in 2008.

Consumer electronics, computers and computer peripherals, and communications equipment were the three main applications of its products, accounting for over 90% of its total turnover.

SEATTLE and GENEVA, April 30 /PRNewswire/ --

- Primary Endpoint met With a Significant Reduction in Relapse Rate - Secondary Endpoints met Including MRI Measures, Proportion of Patients Relapse-Free and Disability Progression - Submission for Registration of Cladribine Tablets Planned for mid-2009

LONDON, April 30 /PRNewswire/ --

LONDON, April 30 /PRNewswire/ --

Following the embargoed news released by the Queen Mary University of London concerning the oral MS drug cladribine and the results due to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology meeting, please find below a statement from the MS Society.

Dr Lee Dunster, Head of Research at the MS Society, said: These are remarkable results and being able to take a tablet instead of having injections will be a huge step forward for people with MS.

The evidence is there, but we now need to see cladribine move smoothly through the regulatory process and the price the manufacturer sets will play a crucial part in that.

This week is MS Week. For more info, go to http://www.msweek.org.uk

ANDOVER, England, April 30 /PRNewswire/ --

Almost 1 in 8 managers in the UK has a problem trusting their staff when it comes to taking time off to visit the dentist, research released today reveals.

According to Simplyhealth's Annual Dental Survey, 13% of bosses dictate when employees can visit the dentist and in some cases, actively discourage any visits to the dentist during working hours.

But while many managers admit to subjecting their staff to high levels of scrutiny, the impact of employees not being given time to attend to dental matters threatens to have an adverse effect on their career.

At least once a year, Cosmo’s cover story is about how to have better, longer sex: a turgid treatise on positions and anatomy.  Our finest ladies’ mags are ignoring the obvious.

To improve the mating of our species, we must learn from the mistakes of garden spiders and band together to end sexual cannibalism once and for all.  

Female Argiope spiders only want what all of us want—the upper hand in the war of the sexes.  But your friendly neighborhood garden spider has more at stake than the proper replacement of the toilet seat.