An ultra-high-resolution imaging technique using X-ray diffraction is a step closer to fulfilling its promise as a window on nanometer-scale structures in biological samples. Researchers report progress in applying an approach to "lensless" X-ray microscopy that they introduced one year ago, with the potential to yield insights for evolutionary biology and biotechnology. They have produced the first images, using this technique, of biological cells -- specifically the intriguing polyextremophile Deinococcus radiourans.

Pre-market approval by the FDA of cardiovascular devices is often based on studies that lack adequate strength or may have been prone to bias, according to a new study. Researchers found that of nearly 80 high-risk devices, the majority received approval based on data from a single study.

Researchers have developed a rapid, automated system to differentiate strains of influenza.

The past year has been marked by a series of moral transgressions by powerful figures in political, business and celebrity circles. New research explores why powerful people -- many of whom take a moral high ground -- don't practice what they preach.

Over the past decade, researchers have developed a variety of reliable real-time and archival instruments to study sounds made or heard by marine mammals and fish. These new sensors are now being used in research, management and conservation projects around the world with some very important practical results. Among them is improved monitoring of endangered North Atlantic right whales in an effort to reduce ship strikes, a leading cause of their deaths.

Scientists are developing new scaffolding technology which could be used to grow tissues such as skin, nerves and cartilage using 3D spaghetti-like structures.

Tar and shingles are hardly environmentally friendly materials, so the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) hopes to soon help homeowners and businesses replace the roofs over their heads with something greener. To that end, the DOE awarded Weidlinger Associates , a New York City-based structural engineering firm, a $150,000 grant earlier this month (matched by a 10-percent commitment from the state) to develop durable hybrid solar roofing panels with integrated photovoltaic cells and thermoelectric materials that harvest the sun’s energy to produce both electricity and hot water for buildings. [More]

Heme, a crucial component of the biomachinery that squeezes energy out of food and stores it for later use, must be transported across membranes but without exposing its central iron atom to oxidation. New research shows how it is done.

Scientists have identified the dominant odor naturally produced in humans and birds that attracts the blood-feeding Culex mosquitoes, which transmits West Nile virus and other life-threatening diseases. The groundbreaking research explains why mosquitoes shifted hosts from birds to humans and paves the way for key developments in mosquito and disease control.

Researchers have discovered how an oncogene gets activated in mature B cells, suggesting a new target for therapy in B cell lymphomas. The study marks the first time researchers have understood how the over-activation of c-myc can lead to blood-related cancers.