Officials from the National Science Foundation (NSF) have announced a new policy designed to increase data sharing among researchers whose work is funded by agency.

By October, 2010, NSF is planning to require that all grant proposals include a data management plan in the form of a two-page supplementary document. The changes are designed to address trends and needs in the modern era of data-driven science, officials say.

The new policy would require grantees to share their data within a reasonable length of time, so long as the cost is modest.

Previous research has found that soda and coffee consumption are associated with risk of colon cancer. But a new review in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests that drinking even large amounts of coffee and sugar-sweetened, carbonated soft drinks is not linked to the disease.

Earlier studies on subject have reached mixed conclusions. Some found that coffee and tea may lower the risk of cancer, while others found that they could increase the risk. Tea, for instance contains anti-oxidants that in theory help prevent cancer but also has polyamines, which in theory promote cancer. Sugar-sweetened soft drinks are associated with weight gain, obesity, and other conditions that are potential risk factors for colon cancer.

Biologists studying a population of lizards on the Bahamas say that competition among the brown anole lizard (Anolis sagrei) is more important than predation by birds and snakes when it comes to survival of the fittest lizard.

The Dartmouth team's results, published in Nature, may also aid efforts to teach the public about evolution.

Teenagers are smoking fewer cigarettes today, but that doesn't mean they've given up tobacco altogether. A new study in Pediatrics has found that almost one-quarter of young adults in Montreal have used waterpipes (also called shishas or hookahs) in the past year.

The habit is particularly popular among young, English-speaking males who lived on their own and had a higher household income. In addition, the research team found that waterpipe users were more likely to use other psychoactive substances such as cigarettes, marijuana, illicit drugs and alcohol.

Astronomers from the University of Florida will take a second look this summer at a rare cosmic cradle for the universe's largest stars, the constellation Carina. The massive gas cloud is located 8,000 light years away in the Southern sky and is home to stars that grow up to have 50 times the sun's mass.

The constellation was once part of the larger constellation Argo Navis until it split into three. The cloud is in the early stages of collapsing in on itself, offering astronomers an unusual vista on the first contractions of behemoth star birth.

New research has found that video gaming is an effective way to reduce anxiety and acute pain caused by medical procedures and could be a useful treatment for chronic pain. The research was presented this week at the American Pain Society’s annual scientific meeting

“Virtual reality produces a modulating effect that is endogenous, so the analgesic influence is not simply a result of distraction but may also impact how the brain responds to painful stimuli,” said Jeffrey I. Gold, Ph.D., associate professor of anesthesiology and pediatrics. “The focus is drawn to the game not the pain or the medical procedure, while the virtual reality experience engages visual and other senses.”