Bats in northeast China are infected with the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease that has decimated bat populations in North America since it first appeared in upstate New York in 2006. A team of American and Chinese researchers found the fungus in caves where bats hibernate and found bats infected with the fungus.

Although infected bats had lesions characteristic of the disease and similar to lesions seen in North American bats, the researchers do not know the extent to which Chinese bat species are affected by the disease.

Between 1999-2012, overall prescription drug use increased among U.S. adults, with this increase seen for the majority of but not all drug classes, according to a study in the November 3 issue of JAMA.

Use of prescription drugs represents a major expenditure in the United States, and research suggests that use of prescription drugs is increasing. Yet much of the information about prescription use is derived from pharmacy databases or expenditure data, neither of which directly captures use at the population level. It is important to document patterns of prescription drug use to inform both clinical practice and research, according to background information in the article.

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 3 - When a male Asian Citrus Psyllid is looking for a mate, he situates himself on a twig, buzzes his wings to send vibrations along adjacent leaves and branches, and listens for a female's response call. If the call comes, he travels in her direction, the abbreviated insect version of courtship ensues, and two to seven weeks later, scores of psyllids nymphs emerge from their eggs, feed on phloem sap, and mature into adults who head out into the world, ravaging untold numbers of citrus trees in the process.

Athens, Ga. - Evidence has been mounting that female monarch butterflies are better at flying and more successful at migration than males, and researchers from the University of Georgia have now come up with an explanation--but not one they expected.

In the study comparing physical traits of female and male monarchs, they found that although female monarchs have smaller wings and smaller flight muscles than males, their wings are thicker and also bear less weight per square inch, making them both sturdier and more efficient in flight.

If you're feeling a little blue during the transition to menopause, there's good reason, according to a new study being reported online today in Menopause. The study suggests that the estradiol (a form of estrogen) fluctuation that is common during the menopausal transition may enhance emotional sensitivity to psychosocial stress.

When combined with a very stressful life event, this sensitivity is likely to contribute to the development of a depressed mood. 

Weather patterns in a mysterious world beyond our solar system called
PSO J318.5-22
have been revealed for the first time. Layers of clouds, made up of hot dust and droplets of molten iron, have been detected on a planet-like object found 75 light years from Earth, researchers say. 

Findings from the study could improve scientists' ability to find out if conditions in far-off planets are capable of sustaining life, the team of astronomers suggests.

They used a telescope in increasingly-popular Chile (Hawaii and Arizona in the U.S. long ago declared white-collar astronomy and a mandated lack of light pollution to be environmentally hazardous) to study the weather systems in PSO J318.5-22, which is estimated to be around 20 million-years-old.