Rather than being gentle giants, new research reveals that Pleistocene cave bears ate both plants and animals and competed for food with the other contemporary large carnivores of the time: hyaenas, lions, wolves, and our own human ancestors.

  A hemangioma is a benign tumor of cells that line blood vessels, appearing during the first few weeks of life as a large birthmark or lesion. A new study reveals that a disturbance of oxygen depletion was found in placentas of babies who developed infantile hemangioma.

  Aperiodic, rule-bending crystals are the focus of an article in Science. Co-authors looked at how these aperiodic crystals behave differently from "normal"periodic crystals. These differences could have implications not only for research but also for technology that relies on crystals, from computer displays to hard drives.

  There is a new explanation for how stem cells known as satellite cells contribute to building muscles up in response to exercise. These findings could lead to treatments for reversing or improving the muscle loss that occurs in diseases such as cancer and AIDS as well as in the normal aging process.

  Scientists report an advance toward unlocking the secrets of "tension wood (TW),"a step that could have practical applications in preventing costly warping and splitting of wood used in construction projects. The researchers point out that whereas normal wood tends to shrink a small amount when dried, TW undergoes surprisingly high shrinkage. This shrinkage makes it undesirable for use in sun decks and other construction applications. Now, researchers want a valid explanation for this phenomenon.

  Adolescents who participate in physical education at school are more likely to maintain a normal weight as young adults, according to a new study. For each weekday of physical education at school the odds of being an overweight adult decreased by 5 percent. Participation in all five days of physical education decreased the odds of being an overweight adult by 28 percent.

  An ancestral circadian clock mechanism is defined in monarch butterflies, in which two proteins function as critical components. The proteins may also function as output molecules that connect the clock to the sun compass for successful navigation.

  People who drink moderate amounts of alcohol and are physically active have a lower risk of death from heart disease and other causes than people who don't drink at all, according to new research. People who neither drink alcohol nor exercise have a 30 to 49 percent higher risk of heart disease than those who either drink, exercise or both.

  The molecular machinery behind gene transcription isn't stationed in special "transcription factories"within a cell nucleus, according to new research. Instead, the enzyme RNA polymerase II and other key molecules can assemble at the site of an activated gene, regardless of the gene's position.

  Patients taking cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins may be at lower risk for developing cancer, especially lung and colorectal cancers. However, it is unknown whether statins directly prevent cancer. Statin users in this study had a reduced risk of all cancer types compared with non-statin users. The incidence of cancer was 9.4 percent among statin users and 13.2 percent among non-statin users.

  Mathematicians have found that it is possible to gain full control of sound waves which could lead to improved medical scans, for technology such as ultrasound machines. They tested the numerical properties of a flat lens made out of 'meta-material'- a material that gains its properties from its structure rather than its composition. This material is thought to defy the laws of physics, allowing objects to appear exactly as they are rather than upside down as seen in a normal convex or concave lens.

  Employees who lose their jobs because of their health suffer more significant depression and detrimental health outcomes than people who lose their jobs for non-health reasons, new research shows.

  Astronomers have discovered galaxies in the distant universe that are ancestors of spiral galaxies like our Milky Way. They are quite small -- one-tenth the size and one-twentieth the mass of our Milky Way, and have fewer stars -- one-fortieth as many as are in the Milky Way. Several of these galaxies, sometimes 10 or more, pulled together over the ensuing few billion years to form a single spiral galaxy.

  People who adopt four healthy behaviors -- not smoking; taking exercise; moderate alcohol intake; and eating five servings of fruit and vegetables a day -- live on average an additional 14 years of life compared with people who adopt none of these behaviors, according to a new study.