An Earth-like planet is likely forming 424 light-years away in a star system called HD 113766, say astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Scientists have discovered a huge belt of warm dust ?enough to build a Mars-size planet or larger ?swirling around a distant star that is just slightly more massive than our sun.

  A combination of two drugs can selectively block pain-sensing neurons in rats without impairing movement or other sensations such as touch, according to a new study. Scientists have combined a normally inactive lidocaine derivative with capsaicin, the 'heat'-generating ingredient in chili peppers, to produce pain-specific local anesthesia. The finding suggests an improved way to treat pain from childbirth and surgical procedures. It may also lead to new treatments to help the millions of Americans who suffer from chronic pain.

  Researchers have developed a simple new technique for identifying and repairing small, potentially dangerous cracks in high-performance aircraft wings and many other structures made from polymer composites. Once a crack is located, engineers can use a simple new method to seal the crack with a 70 percent recovery in strength.

  The fight against the deadly tropical disease leishmaniasis, also known as black fever, has been boosted by a new screening system has raised the possibility of new, safer drugs.

  Researchers have discovered that Tamiflu, an antiviral drug used to prevent and mitigate influenza infections, is not removed or degraded during normal sewage treatment. Consequently, in countries where Tamiflu is used at a high frequency, there is a risk that its concentration in natural waters can reach levels where influenza viruses in nature will develop resistance to it.

  Dogs that bite children have often not bitten kids before, but they tend to have underlying behavioral or medical problems, indicates new research. Young children were much more likely to be bitten when dogs felt their food or other resources, such as toys, were under threat. Older children bore the brunt of dogs'territorial behaviour.

  Subway trains produce airborne dust particles that could damage the lungs of commuters. Exposure to the subway dust triggered transient lung inflammation in the mice and increased levels of several substances produced by the immune system that might cause tissue damage.

  An in vitro fertilization technique that can avoid multiple births appears to be effective for women older than 35, according to new research. More than half the women in a retrospective study became pregnant after undergoing the procedure, called a single blastocyst transfer, which transferred just one embryo into the womb.

  It's a long-standing question: Can just the act of observing an experiment affect the results? According to a new study, if the experiment uses a fluorescent dye called acridine orange, the answer is a resounding "yes."A fluorescent marker, long used in imaging to help researchers watch membrane-bound vesicles as they exit a cell, can actually cause the vesicles to break open as soon as they're hit with light from a microscope. New research describes how to differentiate a microscopy side effect from the cell's true process.

  Specialized bath products to relieve the symptoms of allergic (atopic) eczema are of "questionable"value, according to new research. UK's National Health Service forks out more than £16 million a year on bath emollients, equivalent to almost 40 percent of the total cost of eczema treatments prescribed for preschool children, says DTB.

  A growing number of Americans consider global warming an important threat that calls for drastic action, and 40 percent say that a presidential candidate's position on the issue will strongly influence how they vote, according to a national survey.

  Patients who undergo liver transplantation at age 60 or above have one-year and five-year survival rates similar to those of younger patients and they experience fewer episodes of rejection. Older patients have long been considered high-risk recipients, because they may have other conditions and diseases alongside their liver problem, and because they have increased mortality risk overall. However, older patients have softer immune systems, which might reject transplants less often, leading to better outcomes.

  There's good news and bad news in the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) report. The good news: The peregrine falcon and the sea otter no longer face extinction. The not-so-good news: COSEWIC proposes adding another 36 species to Canada's official List of Wildlife Species at Risk. Species from all regions of the country, on the land and in the sea, are at risk of extinction.

  Researchers have developed new ways of controlling and treating breast cancer that should be ready for clinical trials within a few years. One research team has been investigating human breast cancers for the presence of stem cells - cells that generate new tumours and can cause the cancer to recur - in a series of studies. One third of women who are successfully treated for breast cancer find that the disease recurs some years later because some of these cancer cells survive the treatment and begin to grow again.