[Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast.]

There's a whole lot of laughing gas in the atmosphere these days. But it's no laughing matter. Nitrous oxide, or N2O, wafts up from manure and the chemical fertilizer sprayed on fields. Industry contributes as well.

[More]

A planet has been discovered with ten times the mass of Jupiter, but which orbits its star in less than one Earth-day.

A team of South Korean scientists have succeeded in engineering the bacterium E. coli to produce the industrial chemical putrescine. The research provides a renewable alternative to the production of this important chemical which is traditionally created using fossil fuels.

Kudzu, the nuisance vine that has overgrown almost 10 million acres in the southeastern United States, may sprout into a dietary supplement. Scientists are reporting the first evidence that root extracts from kudzu show promise as a dietary supplement for a high-risk condition -- the metabolic syndrome -- that affects almost 50 million people in the United States alone.

Scientists in Switzerland have discovered a way to block the growth of human colon cancer cells, preventing the disease from reaching advanced stages.

People with psoriasis -- an often distressing dermatological condition that causes lesions and scaly patches on the skin -- are less likely to react to looks of disgust by others than people without the condition, new research has found.

Researchers in Finland have identified an effective new treatment option using stent-assisted coil embolization on patients who have suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm, a potentially life-threatening event, according to a new study.

Shell beads unearthed from four sites in Morocco confirm early humans were consistently wearing and even trading symbolic jewelery as early as 80,000 years ago. These beads add to similar finds dating back as far as 110,000 in Algeria, Morocco, Israel and South Africa, confirming these as the oldest form of personal ornaments. Together these shells -- all from the Nassarius genus -- indicate a shared tradition passed along through cultures over thousands of years.

Scientists have found an important mechanism involved in setting up the vast communications network of connections in the brain.

Electrons that are trapped in very small structures of only a few nanometer, demonstrate fascinating features. These could be useful for novel computers or semiconductor lasers. Researchers have measured for the first time the exact lifetime of excited electrons.