Probing a glowing bubble of gas and dust encircling a dying star, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveals a wealth of previously unseen structures. The object, called NGC 2371, is a planetary nebula, the glowing remains of a Sun-like star. The remnant star visible at the center of NGC 2371 is the super-hot core of the former red giant, now stripped of its outer layers. Its surface temperature is a scorching 240,000 degrees Fahrenheit. NGC 2371 lies about 4,300 light-years away in the constellation Gemini.

  The "female sex hormone" estradiol is present in both men and women. It plays various roles in addition to its gender-specific ones, including having effects on the hearing (auditory) system. In a new study, mice deficient in the estrogen receptor beta exhibited reduced recovery from auditory trauma, and treatment with ER beta-binding drugs protected mice from auditory damage, leading to the suggestion that these data might enable the development of new treatments for hearing loss.

  Carrying a cell phone may cause some college students -- especially women -- to take risks with their safety, a new study suggests. A survey of 305 students at one campus found that 40 percent of cell phone users said they walked somewhere after dark that they normally wouldn't go.

  People who suffer from egg allergies may soon be able to have their quiche and eat it too. Chemists have developed a new process that greatly reduces allergens in eggs and may lead to safer, more specialized food products for individuals with egg allergies. Although unusual in adults, egg allergies are among the leading food allergies in infants and children. These allergies can cause severe stomach aches, and rashes. In extremely rare cases, death may occur.

  Physicists have made important findings regarding gold on the nanoscale. They found that gold in this size regime can be made magnetic through oxygenation of gold nanowires. They also found that up to a certain length, oxygenated gold nanowires behave as a conducting metal, but beyond that, they become insulators.

  Doctors may one day be able to control alcohol addiction by manipulating the molecular events in the brain that underlie anxiety associated with alcohol withdrawal, researchers report in the Journal of Neuroscience.

  A new haptic interface based on magnetic levitation to give computer users a feel for what's on the screen. They can perceive textures, feel hard contacts, and sense the heft of a heavy block as they lift it.

  A new population-based epidemiological study has found that elevated liver enzymes discovered during routine medical care are associated with higher future mortality.

  In an advance in food safety, researchers are reporting development of a nano-sized sensor that detects record low levels of the deadly prion proteins that cause Mad Cow Disease and other so-called prion diseases. The sensor, which detects binding of prion proteins by detecting frequency changes of a micromechanical oscillator, could lead to a reliable blood test for prion diseases in both animals and humans, the researchers say.

  One-third of women suffer from one or more pelvic floor disorders, which include symptoms such as the frequent urge to urinate, dropped pelvic organs, and incontinence. The study consists of the broadest age range of participants to date, of which 80 percent of the 4,000 women studied had given birth. Of those 4,000 women, 25 percent suffered from anal incontinence, 15 percent from stress urinary incontinence, 13 percent from overactive bladder and six percent experienced pelvic organ prolapse, the dropping of pelvic organs.

  Like many northerners who head south to warmer climates for the winter, many Northern right whales also head south in November and stay into April. Their destination is the only known calving ground for this rare and endangered population -- the waters off Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. When they arrive, NOAA scientists are there to greet them, and to take DNA samples.

  Curing cancer with natural products -- a case for shamans and herbalists? Not at all, for many chemotherapies to fight cancer applied in modern medicine are natural products or were developed on the basis of natural substances. Thus, taxanes used in prostate and breast cancer treatment are made from yew trees. The popular periwinkle plant, which grows along the ground of many front yards, is the source of vinca alkaloids that are effective, for example, against malignant lymphomas. The modern anti-cancer drugs topotecan and irinotecan are derived from a constituent of the Chinese Happy Tree.

  Research from ancient sediment cores indicates that a warming climate could make the world's arctic tundra far more susceptible to fires than previously thought. The findings are important given the potential for tundra fires to release organic carbon -- which could add significantly to the amount of greenhouse gases already blamed for global warming.

  Targeting and killing the non-malignant cells that surround and support a cancer can stop tumor growth in mice. Many solid tumors develop elaborate mechanisms to prevent recognition and elimination by the immune system. Due to their genetic instability they often discard the tumor antigen-presenting cell-surface structures that alert the immune system that these cells are harmful.