United States Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano resigns from her federal role on Friday in order to head the University of California school system. Following an initial report from Reuters suggesting Sec. Napolitano was set to resign, the Los Angeles Times reported early Friday that the former two-term governor or Arizona will exit her role with the Obama administration in lieu of job... 

In Europe, nearly everyone is related. A new genetic analysis showed that Europeans have a high degree of relatedness between themselves and are descendants of a group of ancestors who lived only a thousand years ago. The study examined the genetic proximity between residents of 39 countries over the past three thousand years to compare the genetic sequences of two thousand individuals. For researchers... 

A team of researchers in the United States has discovered that higher levels of a gene called parkin extend the life span and maintain health in fruit flies. On Monday, the researchers said that a gene, which behaves like a garbage man by disposing of damaged materials in cells, had increased the life spans of fruit flies and may open new windows in dealing with human aging. The study, which was published... 

It is alarming to know that most Americans drink sugary beverages. In fact a massive propaganda (advertisement) campaign started back before my time. Soda pops were only 5 cents according to my Dad. However, at that time sodas and other drinks were likely made with real sugars as opposed to high fructose corn syrup which is used in most drinks today as a form of sweetener (a cancer inhibitor). In... 

Artist’s impression: five planets orbit the star Tau Ceti, which is just 11.9 light-years from Earth. Astronomers have discovered that the closest Sun-like star, Tau Ceti, is orbited by five planets, one of which is in the “habitable range”. If its existence is confirmed, the planet could be the closest potentially life-harboring world to our own. Tau Ceti, twelve light years away, belongs... 

USC researchers have begun examining the link between pesticide exposure and the development of prostate cancer, with scientists documenting an increased prevalence of prostate cancer among older men exposed to certain pesticides. While this news is alarming on its own, it is only one of the many dangers associated with pesticide exposure. Exploring the Cancer Connection Prostate cancer effects one... 

A mountain pine beetle A beetle species has affected on the climate of British Colombia in Canada during past decade as caused recent warmer summers in the region. The destructive beetle, with the size of a grain of rice, by lowering the amount of water pumped into the air by plants has induced crucial alteration on local climate as forest fires. Researchers claim that due to decreasing summer evapo-transpiration,... 

It seems that Curiosity, a Martian rover, managed to find evidence that proves that there used to be a lot of water on the Red Planet. The discovery means that that there could be life on Mars as well. The images obtained with the help of telemetry show a river channel or streams among rocks. Researchers are studying the images, trying to determine the parameters of an ancient water reservoir. The... 

Study says an MRI scan can exactly reveal how old we are. US Researchers say there is a ‘developmental clock’ inside the brain that can reveal exact age and help understand the mechanisms underlying disorders such as ADHD and autism. “We have uncovered a ‘developmental clock’ of sorts within the brain-a biological signature of maturation that captures age differences quite... 

Study in the United States showed that fruit that ripens uniformly is preferred by producers, but lose their flavor. The difference in taste of supermarket tomatoes compared to those from the garden has genetics as an explanation. An international team of researchers identified the genetic mutations responsible for the uniform maturation of fruit that also causes the least amount of sugar in the tomato. For... 

The quantum circuit used in the demonstration is a 3mm x 3mm chip with a 1mm x 1mm diamond in the middle. Scientists have created a working quantum computer inside a diamond that includes protection against ‘decoherence,’ noise that prevents it from functioning properly. Researchers of the University of Southern California, Iowa State University, University of California, Santa Barbara,... 

Astronomers analyzed the data and then combined them into an atlas of more than 18,000 images and a catalog of the properties of more than 560 million individual objects. NASA has released a new atlas and catalog of the entire infrared sky with more than a half billion stars and galaxies many of which have never been seen before. Scientists used the images taken by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer... 

Electrodes distributed over the brain of a volunteer A new study conducted in the University of California has enabled scientists to find a way to decipher actual words from human brain waves. A team of neuroscientists worked with a group of epileptic patients who were under the treatment for difficult curable seizures. They placed electrodes in a part of brain which is involved in understanding speech. They... 

The discovery marks the first time such a large body of water has found in the planet’s deep mantle. The finding, made by Michael Wysession, a seismologist at Washington University in St. Louis, and his former graduate student Jesse Lawrence, now at the University of California, San Diego, will be detailed in a forthcoming monograph to be published by the American Geophysical Union. Looking down... 

A photo of the Milky Way galaxy Scientists at the University of Zurich in Switzerland say they have created the world’s first realistic simulation of the formation of the Milky Way. Astrophysicists from the University of Zurich working with astronomers at the University of California maintain that their recent video simulation of the Milky Way shows the creation of our galaxy less than a million...