More than a third of National Football League players who sustained an Achilles tendon injury were never able to return to professional play, according to a new study. The injured players who did return to active play averaged a 50 percent reduction in their power ratings.

While much of the promise of stem cells springs from their ability to develop into any cell type in the body, the biological workings that control that maturation process are still largely unknown.

Studying genes that regulate early heart development in animals, scientists have solved a puzzle about one gene's role, finding that it acts in concert with a related gene. Their finding contributes to understanding how the earliest stages of heart development may go awry, resulting in congenital heart defects in humans. Occurring in approximately 1 in 200 children, congenital heart defects represent the most common human birth defect.

A Norwegian researcher studying nociception and pain in teleost fish concludes that is that it is very likely the fish can indeed feel pain.

A robust new technique for screening drugs' effects on zebrafish behavior is pointing scientists toward unexpected compounds and pathways that may govern sleep and wakefulness in humans. Among their more intriguing findings: Various anti-inflammatory agents in the immune system, long known to induce sleep during infection, may also shape normal sleep/wake cycles.

Blobs of warm ice that periodically rise to the surface and churn the icy crust on Saturn's moon Enceladus explain the quirky heat behavior and intriguing surface of the moon's south polar region, according to a new paper using data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

Discard scratched baby bottles and sippy cups. Do not put hot liquids into plastic containers for infants. Most importantly, breast-feed infants if at all possible. [More]

A new intelligent system has been developed to help identify terrorists carrying explosives. Sensitive electronic noses capture the smell of the explosives; the system processes the acquired data, correlates it with individuals' movements ... and ultimately tracks down the suspects.

New technologies used to repair spinal fractures could soon be helping patients suffering from the bone marrow cancer multiple myeloma.

Coal-tar-based sealcoat -- the black, shiny substance sprayed or painted on many parking lots, driveways, and playgrounds -- has been linked to elevated concentrations of the contaminants polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in house dust. Apartments with adjacent parking lots treated with the coal-tar based sealcoat contained house dust with much higher concentrations of PAHs than apartments next to other types of parking lots according to new research.