With 15,000 tons produced each year for batteries, alloys, and pigments, the heavy metal cadmium is one of the most serious environmental pollutants. Chronic exposure can induce kidney damage and bone disease and is thought to cause cancer. A study in the August issue of Nature Medicine now shows that cadmium mimics the effects of estrogen, and suggests that even at relatively low doses cadmium might have wide-ranging effects on the body.

Mary Beth Martin and colleagues report that,

Discovery of quadruply lensed quasar with Einstein ring

Using the ESO 3.6-m telescope at La Silla (Chile), an international team of astronomers [1] has discovered a complex cosmic mirage in the southern constellation Crater (The Cup). This “gravitational lens” system consists of (at least) four images of the same quasar as well as a ring-shaped image of the galaxy in which the quasar reside – known as an “Einstein ring”. The more nearby lensing galaxy that causes this intriguing opt

UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas researchers have discovered a tumor-suppressor gene that, in fruit flies, simultaneously restricts cell proliferation and promotes cell death, a process that may also play an important role in the genesis of cancer in humans.

Removal of the gene, hippo, resulted in tumor formation in every organ of the fruit fly. The findings, which are currently online, will appear in an upcoming issue of Cell.

“This is one of the few genes that has been d

From 16 to 31 July, 32 international student teams of researchers will gather in Bordeaux, France, to fly their experiments in zero-gravity on board a specially adapted Airbus A-300.

This year’s Student Parabolic Flight Campaign, organised by ESA’s Education Office, will see experiments performed in a variety scientific areas including physics, human biology, material science and robotics, some using objects as diverse as jelly and moths.

Four flights in two

People are becoming more tolerant of the use of cannabis, but there are still clear limits to what is acceptable in the area of illegal drug-taking, according to new research funded by the ESRC.

Views about cannabis have shifted considerably over the past two decades, with 41 per cent of Britons now supporting its legalisation – up from just 12 per cent in 1983. However, very few (eight per cent) endorse the view that adults should be free to take any drugs they wish, says the report into

Almost half the chance of developing acid reflux, which doctors refer to as GORD, may be down to our genes, and not just what we eat and drink, a twin study in Gut suggests.

Acid reflux (gastro-oesophageal reflux disease) is one of the most common digestive disorders in the developed world. It is thought that up to one in five people suffers from the characteristic heart burn and/or acid regurgitation every week. Regular sufferers are at increased risk of cancer of the gullet (oesophagus), n