Despite his brief nine-year reign, Tutankhamen is probably the most famous pharaoh of ancient Egypt. Because his tomb had not been robbed at the time of its discovery in 1922, historians have been able to piece together aspects of the boy king's 19-year life. More than 100 walking sticks and "pharmacies" (medicinal seeds, fruits and leaves) found mingled among funeral offerings and other treasures within the tomb suggested that the pharaoh was frail, and two mummified fetuses implied that his offspring might have suffered from lethal genetic defects. But a new study on the Tutankhamen family mummies themselves, published February 16 in JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association , has provided biological insight into the king's incestuous royal lineage and his early death. [More]

President Obama announced the first federal nuclear-power loan guarantee, $8 billion for Southern Co. to build two new reactors in Georgia.

In a speech at a job-training center at the IBEW Local 26 headquarters in Lanham, Md., Obama said the loan guarantee will help "build a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in America" as part of a White House effort to create a "clean energy" economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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Editor's Note: Journalist and crew member Kathryn Eident and scientist Jeremy Jacquot are traveling on board the RV Atlantis on a monthlong voyage to sample and study nitrogen fixation in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, among other research projects. This is the third blog post detailing this ongoing voyage of discovery for Scientific American.com .

The work of getting the conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) measurement device safely on deck may be complete, but for many in the science party, the real work is now just beginning. [More]

A simple test of reaction time may help determine whether athletes have sustained a concussion (also known as mild traumatic brain injury) and when they are ready to play again, according to a new study.

Despite good intentions, the push to privatize government functions and insistence upon "free trade" that is too often unfair has caused declining food production, increased poverty and a hunger crisis for millions of people in many African nations, researchers conclude in a new study.

The great promise of induced pluripotent stem cells is that the all-purpose cells seem capable of performing all the same tricks as embryonic stem cells, but without the controversy.

An analysis of newly available climate data shows that summer fog along the California coast has declined significantly in the past century, though it is unclear whether this is a natural variation or a result of human activity. The new report links summer high pressure cells above the northwest California coast to frequent fog. When the cells are weak, fog escapes inland and coastal temperatures rise. This could affect redwoods, which need high humidity.

Scientists have discovered a molecular pathway that works through the immune system to regenerate damaged kidney tissues and may lead to new therapies for repairing injury in other organs. The study may have significant medical ramifications as currently there are no effective treatments for acute kidney injury -- a growing problem in hospitals and clinics.

Physicists may have glimpsed a particle that is a leading candidate for mysterious dark matter but say conclusive evidence remains elusive.

Value-based insurance design in which consumer payments are waived for highly effective treatments, but are raised for less effective ones, could increase the benefits of healthcare in the US without increasing expenditures.