For years journalists and others have questioned the ethics of public relations practitioners and firms. People in PR, however, appear to be getting a bad rap. That's what a new study funded by the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication at Penn State University has found.

Researchers have gained new understanding of the role hyaluronic acid plays in skeletal growth, chondrocyte maturation and joint formation in developing limbs.

Researchers have discovered a chemical that works in mice to kill the rare, aggressive cells within breast cancers that can seed new tumors. These cells, known as cancer stem cells, are thought to enable cancers to spread -- and to reemerge after seemingly successful treatment. Although work is needed to determine whether this chemical holds promise for humans, the study shows that it is possible to find chemicals that selectively kill cancer stem cells.

Water striders, the familiar semi-aquatic bugs gliding across the lake at the cottage, have a novel body form that allows them to walk on water. Achieving the gliding ability required the evolution of a unique arrangement of the legs, with the mid-legs greatly elongated. Scientists have discovered the gene behind this evolutionary change.

New research has made important insights into the bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii, which causes mortality rates as high as 75 percent in the Middle East. The bacterium is a significant threat to San Antonio military families, which can become infected if a family member brings the bacterium home after battle.

Mathematicians developed a new cloaking method, and it's unlikely to lead to invisibility cloaks like those used by Harry Potter or Romulan spaceships in "Star Trek." Instead, the new method someday might shield submarines from sonar, planes from radar, buildings from earthquakes, and oil rigs and coastal structures from tsunamis.

The labeling information that comes with prescription drugs tells you what's known about the medication, but several researchers think it's high time that the labeling tell you what isn't known.

A new look at a large database of prostate cancer patients shows that obesity plays no favorites when it comes to increasing the risk of recurrence after surgery. Being way overweight is equally bad for blacks and whites, say researchers.

Walking outdoors in the fall, the splendidly colorful leaves adorning the trees are a delight to the eye. In Europe these autumn leaves are mostly yellow, while the United States and East Asia boast lustrous red foliage. But why is it that there are such differences in autumnal hues around the world? A new theory proposes taking a step 35 million years back to solve the color mystery.

Supplementing obese rats with the nutrient carnitine helps the animals to clear the extra sugar in their blood, something they had trouble doing on their own, researchers report.