Neil A Conway

A new paper reveals groundbreaking research on the hydrothermal formation of Clay-Carbonate rocks in the Nili Fossae region of Mars. The findings may provide a link to evidence of living organisms on Mars, roughly 4 billion years ago in the Noachian period.

Calcium supplements, commonly taken by older people for osteoporosis, are associated with an increased risk of a heart attack, a new study finds.

In 1824, John James Audubon (1785-1851), the eminent American artist, created a drawing of a running grouse for use in the design for a New Jersey bank note. Although the artist mentions the drawing and the resulting engraved paper money in two separate diary entries, no one has ever been able to locate or identify such an illustration. Until now.

A new study shows that a sleep disorder may be a sign of dementia or Parkinson’s disease up to 50 years before the disorders are diagnosed.

Michelangelo, the 16th century master painter and accomplished anatomist, appears to have hidden an image of the brainstem and spinal cord in a depiction of God in the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, a new study reports. These findings by a neurosurgeon and a medical illustrator may explain long controversial and unusual features of one of the frescoes’ figures.

Astronomers have found two extrasolar planetary systems with gas giant planets locked in an orbital embrace. In one system — a planetary pair orbiting the massive, dying star HD 200964, located roughly 223 light-years from Earth — the intimate dance is closer and tighter than any previously seen.

When your mind drifts, it’s hard to remember what was going on before you stopped paying attention. Now a new study has found that the effect is stronger when your mind drifts farther — to memories of an overseas vacation instead of a domestic trip, for example, or a memory in the more distant past.

Scientists have identified the genes necessary for making a highly potent and clinically unexploited antibiotic in the fight against multi-resistant pathogens.

Computer scientists from the University of California, San Diego broke “the terabyte barrier” — and a world record — when they sorted more than one terabyte of data (1,000 gigabytes or 1 million megabytes) in just 60 seconds. During this 2010 “Sort Benchmark” competition — the “World Cup of data sorting” — the computer scientists from the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering also tied a world record for fastest data sorting rate.

A new form of paper with the built-in ability to fight disease-causing bacteria could have applications that range from antibacterial bandages to food packaging that keeps food fresher longer to shoes that ward off foot odor. The new material consists of the thinnest possible sheets of carbon.