If you own a computer you have probably gotten a 'virus' but there have been no major outbreaks of mobile phone viral infection despite the fact that over 80 percent of Americans now use these devices. A team headed by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, director of the Center for Complex Network Research at Northeastern University, set out to explain why this is true.

A class of drugs already approved as cancer treatments might also help to beat alcohol addiction. That's the conclusion of a discovery in flies of a gene, dubbed happyhour, that has an important and previously unknown role in controlling the insects' response to alcohol. Animals with a mutant version of the gene grow increasingly resistant to alcohol's sedative effects, the research shows. The researchers report further evidence that the gene normally does its work by blocking the so-called Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) pathway. That EGF pathway is best known for its role in cancer, and drugs designed to inhibit the EGF receptor, including erlotinib (trade name Tarceva) and gefitinib (trade name Iressa), are FDA-approved for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

New research provides exciting genetic insight into a rare syndrome that first appeared in the medical literature in the mid 1800s with the case of Julia Pastrana, the world's most notorious bearded lady. The study, published by Cell Press in the May 21st issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, reveals intriguing molecular clues about the pathogenesis of this mysterious condition that has captured the attention of the public since the Middle Ages.

Is there an advantage to being short? I think so, but I'm biased, being what the French call quite "petite." Good things come in small packages, I say.

But now at least one person with a presumably solid foundation in science backs me up. So when I hear yet another short joke (and I think I've heard 'em all), I can smile smugly to myself and know that all you leviathan, Brobdingnagian skyscrapers over 5' (or for the non-abnormal-American-measurementally inclined, 1.5 m) are actually at a disadvantage.

Later In Life

Like dolphins and unicorns, butterflies exist mostly to show artists what to draw on Trapper Keepers.  As such, you wouldn’t expect there to be a major difference between the genders.  Natural selection should be working hard to keep all butterflies at maximum cuteness.  Yet selection giving the males a slight advantage in the arms race to the Lisa Frank drawing board, and scientists want know why.  

LAS VEGAS, May 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- Enhancement Allows for Assessment of Virtually Any Negative Traffic, Application Network Layer Testing from Single Unit

BERLIN, May 20 /PRNewswire/ --

The program of the International eSports Conference (ESCONF) taking place in Cologne from May 26th to 27th has been confirmed and addresses students, university students, teachers, parents, politicians and the media this year in addition to eSportsmen and their managers.

Practically every month in my Chemistry World there appears an article where a group of workers has synthesized some natural product with amazing ingenuity. But why, to use a Hogwartsian analogy, does one go to such great effort when the greenhouse is only a walk away from the potions department? So let us join Professor Sprout for a walk around the Hogwarts greenhouses.

Some plant families, such as the Cruciferae and the Labiatae are remarkably free from poisonous plants, whereas others such as the Araceae all seem to come with a toxic hazard warning sign.

LAS VEGAS, May 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- Vast Range of Scenarios, User Transactions Added to Latest Version Spirent Avalanche

BARCELONA, Spain, May 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- EVEREST High-Risk Registry Data Show Improved Symptomatic Status, Cardiac Function and Reduced rate of Hospitalization for Congestive Heart Failure in both Functional and Degenerative MR Patient Populations