In reports of two new studies, researchers say they have identified the mechanisms rooted in two anatomical brain abnormalities that may explain the onset of schizophrenia and the reason symptoms don't develop until young adulthood. Both types of anatomical glitches are influenced by a gene known as DISC1, whose mutant form was first identified in a Scottish family with a strong history of schizophrenia and related mental disorders.

Researchers have developed a technique to to reduce acrylamide in French fries on an industrial scale. Acrylamide is a product that may cause cancer and was discovered in various foods.

A new study casts doubt on recent claims that a human retrovirus known as XMRV is linked to chronic fatigue syndrome or ME (myalgic encephalitis).

Researchers have developed a noninvasive infrared scanning system to help doctors determine whether pigmented skin growths are benign moles or melanoma, a lethal form of cancer.

Researchers have confirmed three gene changes that raise the risk that a blood vessel in the brain will weaken and balloon out (aneurysm), creating a life-threatening chance of rupture. Smoking, the biggest risk factor for brain aneurysm, is five times more dangerous in people with these gene variations. However, a second study on the same population notes that most people with aneurysm die of cancer or heart problems.

Engineers have made a breakthrough in an 80-year-old quandary in quantum physics, paving the way for the development of new materials that could make electronic devices smaller and cars more energy efficient.

Scientists have discovered the calving of a large iceberg from Antarctica's Mertz Glacier. The iceberg -- 78 kilometres long with a surface area of roughly 2,500 square kilometres, about the size of Luxembourg -- broke off after being rammed by another iceberg, 97 kilometres long. The future position of the two giant icebergs will likely affect local ocean circulation, experts predict.

A mathematics professor is using math to develop a new computer model that can be easily manipulated by other scientists and doctors to predict how different environmental, medical, or physical changes to a person's body will affect their sleep. Their model will also provide clues to the most basic dynamics of the sleep-wake cycle.

Mechanical engineers have fabricated an ultra sharp, diamond-like carbon tip possessing such high strength that it is 3,000 times more wear-resistant at the nanoscale than silicon. The end result is a diamond-like carbon material mass-produced at the nanoscale that doesn't wear.

For the first time researchers from the U.S. and abroad have shown a single-dose HIV DNA vaccine can induce a long-lasting HIV-specific immune response in nonhuman primates, a discovery that could prove significant in the development of HIV vaccines.