ScienceDaily: Top Science News

Potential new breathalyzer for lung cancer screening Posted: 17 Feb 2015 09:25 AM PST Chinese researchers have developed a simple, rapid device for detecting volatile organic compounds on the breath, demonstrating potential for early cancer detection.

New pathways discovered to prevent blindness Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:44 AM PST Scientists have made a major new discovery detailing how areas of the brain responsible for vision could potentially adapt to injury or trauma and ultimately prevent blindness. The study sheds new light on the relationship between vision loss and brain plasticity -- the extraordinary ability of the brain to modify its own structure and function as a result of change or damage.

Closest known flyby of star to our solar system: Dim star passed through Oort Cloud 70,000 years ago Posted: 17 Feb 2015 08:41 AM PST Astronomers from the US, Europe, Chile and South Africa have determined that 70,000 years ago a recently discovered dim star is likely to have passed through the solar system's distant cloud of comets, the Oort Cloud. No other star is known to have ever approached our solar system this close -- five times closer than the current closest star, Proxima Centauri. They analyzed the velocity and trajectory of a low-mass star system nicknamed "Scholz's star."

Bacteria jump between species more easily than previously thought Posted: 17 Feb 2015 05:37 AM PST Bacteria may be able to jump between host species far easier than was previously thought, a new study suggests. Researchers discovered that a single genetic mutation in a strain of bacteria infectious to humans enables it jump species to also become infectious to rabbits. The discovery has major implications for how we assess the risk of bacterial diseases that can pass between humans and animals. It is well known that relatively few mutations are required to support the transmission of viruses -- such as influenza -- from one species to another. Until now it was thought that the process was likely to be far more complicated for bacteria.