Treatment with methylphenidate appears to have beneficial effects on sleep parameters in adults with ADHD, including increased sleep efficiency and a feeling of improved restorative value of sleep.

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Arsenic linked to a drug that binds to the blood vessels of cancerous tumors provides a powerful imaging agent that could one day allow physicians to detect hard-to-find tumors and more closely monitor cancer’s response to therapy.

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Scientists have discovered a gene that increases the risk of developing schizophrenia. A mental disorder which is known to have a strong genetic component, schizophrenia is associated with disturbed thinking and hallucinations. It typically starts in late adolescence, and can have a devastating effect on sufferers and caregivers.

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In a car commercial, it would sound odd: active suspension, six-wheel drive with independent steering for each wheel, no doors, no windows, no seats and the only color it comes in is gold. But NASA’s latest concept vehicle is meant to go way, way off-road — as in 240,000 miles from the nearest pavement, driving on the moon. NASA is working to send astronauts to the moon by 2020 to set up a lunar outpost, where they will do scientific research and prepare for journeys to destinations like Mars.

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Researchers have discovered that neurons can use two different neurotransmitters that target the same receptor on a receiving neuron to shape the transmission of a nerve impulse.

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Despite millions of dollars spent on food safety research over the last 10 years, ground beef recalls due to E. coli O157:H7 were higher in 2007 than in 2006, according to researchers from Kansas State University and West Texas A&M University. E. coli O157:H7 has been linked to foodborne illnesses in humans after consuming contaminated beef and produce. A novel vaccine technology to make beef safer.

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Children who under-achieve at school may just have poor working memory rather than low intelligence according to researchers who have produced the world’s first tool to assess memory capacity in the classroom.

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Each year, winds drop up to 900 million tons of dust from deserts and other parts of land into oceans. Scientists suspect this phenomenon connects to global climate — but exactly how, remains a question. Now a big piece of the puzzle has fallen into place, with a study showing that the amount of dust entering the equatorial Pacific peaks sharply during ice ages. Researchers say the finding may help inform current ideas to seed oceans with iron-rich dust in order to mitigate global warming.

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A family of genes linked to the development of liver cancer have been identified. Researchers discovered in a mouse model that the loss of one specific gene (Iqgap2) in this family causes Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). They also found that when another member of the gene family (Iqgap1) is turned on, a more aggressive form of the disease occurs.

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Last year at four caves near Albany, N.Y., more than 10,000 bats died from a mysterious disease involving a white fungus growing on some bats’ noses, leading researchers to dub it “white-nose syndrome.” The mounting death toll stopped last year when spring arrived and the bats left the caves. But the deaths returned with a vengeance after the bats went into hibernation this winter.

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