Science News
Promoting health? It's all in the game
LONDON - Meet Roxxi - a feisty and fully-armed virtual nanobot. Billed as "medicine's mightiest warrior", she's fighting an epic battle deep inside the human body where she launches rapid-fire assaults on malignant cells.
"Blade Runner" still subject of scientists' debate
- While South African athlete Oscar Pistorius attempts to become the first amputee runner to compete at the Olympic Games, scientists are still arguing whether his artificial limbs give him a critical advantage or not.
China manned docking a key step for space station
SHANGHAI - China re-affirmed its goal of building a full-fledged space station by 2020 on Sunday, following a successful manual docking between a manned spacecraft and an experimental orbiting lab module.
U.S. seizes Tyrannosaurus bones on suspicion of smuggling
NEW YORK - U.S. officials on Friday seized the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus dinosaur that Mongolia wants returned on suspicion that it was smuggled to the United States from the Gobi desert.
Analysis: Healthcare sees emerging future in frugal innovation
LONDON - When Argentinian car mechanic Jorge Odon was joking around with friends about how to get a cork out of an empty wine bottle using only a plastic bag, his thoughts were a long way from problem of maternal mortality.
Biotech improved in 2011; future uncertain: report
- The aggregate financial performance of biotechnology companies in four of the world's major markets -- the United States, Europe, Canada and Australia -- improved in 2011, but funding for small companies is increasingly scarce, raising questions as to whether that growth is sustainable long term, according to a new report.
Top court rejects DNA lab test analyst questioning
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Monday made it easier for prosecutors to use expert testimony about DNA laboratory reports at trial without allowing defendants to confront and question the forensic analysts involved in the tests.
South African innovator takes water out of showering
JOHANNESBURG - With inspiration from a friend too lazy to take a shower and a few months of research on the Internet, South African university student Ludwick Marishane has won global recognition for an invention that takes the water out of bathing.
Real-time gene sequencing used to combat superbug
LONDON - Scientists have used genome sequencing technology to control an outbreak of the superbug MRSA in a study that could point to faster and more efficient treatment of a range of diseases.
UK government report backs open access science publishing
LONDON - The shift toward open access to publicly funded scientific research should be supported with an extra 50 million to 60 million pounds a year in public money, according to a UK government-commissioned report.
FDA OKs first obesity drug in 13 years
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON - U.S. health regulators approved the first new weight-loss drug in 13 years, allowing Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc to bring its Belviq pill to market as public health advocates push for new solutions to the nation's growing obesity epidemic.