Trees that can tolerate soil pollution are also better at defending themselves against pests and pathogens.

While studying the presence of genetic information (RNA) from fungi and bacteria in the trees, the researchers found evidence of a very large amount of RNA from a very common plant pest called the two-spotted spidermite.

99% of spidermite RNA was in higher abundance in trees without contamination, suggesting that the polluted plant's defense mechanisms, used to protect itself against chemical contamination, improves its resistance to a biological invader. 

When we smell a rose, we might take a deep breath to get the the sweet but subtle floral scent - and in a public bathroom we would wisely do just the opposte. Yet people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) don't make this natural adjustment like other people do, autistic children go right on sniffing in the same way, no matter how pleasant or awful the scent.

Researchers writing in a new paper suggest that non-verbal tests related to smell might serve as useful early indicators of ASD. Earlier evidence had indicated that people with autism have impairments in "internal action models," the brain templates we rely on to seamlessly coordinate our senses and actions. It wasn't clear if this impairment would show up in a test of the sniff response, however.

In a step that they say overturns traditional assumptions and practice, researchers at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai and Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhi Nagar have fashioned bacteria to emit intense, hard x-ray radiation.

When one thinks of hard x-rays and bacteria it is usually that the bacteria are at the receiving end of the x-ray source - being imaged, irradiated for some modification or simply assessed for radiation damage. One hardly thinks of using bacteria as a source of x-rays, far from turning them into the brightest among such sources.

If you suffer from chronic muscle pain a doctor will likely recommend for you to apply heat to the injury, but how do you wrap that heat around a joint?

A team has come up with therapeutic heat in a light, flexible design. 

Other teams have come up with similar devices, but no one was able to create something that didn’t rely on exotic materials or a complex fabrication process which leads to high price tags. The new mesh doesn't need carbon nanotubes and gold, it uses silver nanowires. 

A  study of 200 dementia sufferers in Norway reveals that almost all experience greater peace of mind and increased levels of physical activity using GPS devices.

The study forms part of the public sector innovation projects collectively known as "Trygge Spor og Samspill" (Safe tracking and interaction) – a joint initiative launched in 2011 being carried out by SINTEF together with a number of Norwegian municipalities. The initial project began with five municipalities and 50 dementia sufferers, and in 2015 it was expanded to include 18 municipalities.

Nothing will make you feel like Tony Stark more than being able to change the shape of displays with your hands, pulling objects and data out of the screen and playing with them in mid-air.

Right now, that's just in an Avengers movie. Instead, we live in a world of flat-screen displays, even though the real world is not flat, it has hills and valleys, people and objects. Being able to manipulate a display and drag features into a 3-D world is the purpose of GHOST (Generic, Highly-Organic Shape-Changing Interfaces), an EU research project designed to tap humans’ ability to reason about and manipulate physical objects through the interfaces of computers and mobile devices.