Researchers are saying a new analysis of data on the genetics of autism spectrum disorder disputes a commonly held belief that autism results from the chance combinations of commonly occurring gene mutations, which are otherwise harmless. 

They find, instead, further evidence to suggest that devastating "ultra-rare" mutations of genes that they classify as "vulnerable" play a causal role in roughly half of all autism spectrum disorder cases. The vulnerable genes to which they refer harbor what they call an LGD, or likely gene-disruption. These LGD mutations can occur "spontaneously" between generations, and when that happens they are found in the affected child but not found in either parent. 

With an aging baby-boomer population and an estimated 10 million Americans predicted to develop some form of brain disease, supplements claiming to help brain function are flooding the market. Wisconsin-based Quincy Bioscience, the self-proclaimed industry leader, has sold more than two million bottles of its jellyfish-based supplement Prevagen since its launch in 2007 on the premise that it is clinically proven to improve memory. But an investigation by ad watchdogTINA.org has found that the company does not have reliable scientific evidence to back up its claim and the organization has filed a deceptive advertising complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

MGA Entertainment has developed Project Mc², a new doll line with science experiment kits based in S.T.E.M. / S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) curriculum. ​​Designed with the help of a former CIA agent and a science PhD​, h​ere are a couple examples from the new line:
-McKeyla McAlister: doll and experiment activity set that guides through the process of creating a lava lamp with ingredients from the kitchen.​
-Camryn Colye, the doll that comes with blueprint instructions to engineer a skateboard from materials found around the home.

As Nevada and California endure a fourth year of unprecedented drought and this year’s Sierra Nevada snowpack is verified as a 500-year low, a group of Ph.D. scientists from Nevada are knocking on the front door of the tech-industry with a pitch for investment in next generation weather intelligence.

Extreme weather events such as the ongoing drought and mega-fires in the West, record-setting hurricanes in the East, and flash floods across the Mid-West cause upwards of $11 billion in damages each year in the United States.

Research published recently in Science as Culture suggests that men are surprisingly positive and open to the concept of having cancer-detecting biosensors implanted within their bodies – effectively making them cyborgs.

Such auto biotechnologies can aid in the treatment or repair of tissue and organs without external human direction or control. They represent version 2.0 of cyborgs as originally invented by Clynes and Kline in the early 1960’s, referred to as the bodily adaptations required by individuals to live in outer space. Since then, science and technology have made giant leaps forward, leading to the innovative concept of ‘everyday cyborgs’, now increasingly forming an integral part of our reality.

We each give off millions of bacteria from our human microbiome to the air around us every day, and that cloud of bacteria can be traced back to an individual. New research focused on the personal microbial cloud -- the airborne microbes we emit into the air -- examined the microbial connection we have with the air around us.

The findings demonstrate the extent to which humans possess a unique 'microbial cloud signature.'