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By Marian Turner of Nature magazine A long-term study of children from Romanian orphanages suggests that the effects of childhood stress could be visible in their DNA as they grow up.

By Jeff Tollefson of Nature magazine Staff have been cut, contractors laid off, offices closed and even furniture disposed of. [More]

The search for alien civilizations is returning to its roots. In the latest chapter of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI, researchers are using the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia to check out some of the distant worlds being discovered in droves by NASA's Kepler spacecraft.

The search for the genetic roots of psychiatric illnesses and behavioral disorders such as schizophrenia, autism and ADHD has a long history, but until recently, it was one marked by frustration and skepticism. In the past few years, new techniques have begun to reveal strong evidence for the role of specific genes in some cases of these conditions but in a way few people expected. To understand what makes the new discoveries so novel, it’s necessary to appreciate how our genes can go wrong.

Inhaling cigarette smoke or smoggy air is clearly not great for your health. And exposure to various kinds of smoke has been associated with cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis and cataracts

The lush riverside vegetation sways as a herd of elephant wends its way between the broken pools. Standing at the top of an embankment, a half-grown male is watching a larger elephant trudge up the slope toward it. Without warning, the youngster squats down on his haunches (just like a dog) and launches himself down the slope.

Key concepts Sun and moon [More]

For feathered dinosaurs the late Cretaceous period may have been a very itchy time. Lice--the tiny wingless insects that feed on dead skin, and sometimes blood--were just beginning to dig in about 100 million years ago, and the epoch's small furry mammals, early birds and dino-birds would have provided ample food. The louse fossil record is relatively sparse

Bombs away! Scientific American Editor George Musser and his daughter Eliana simulate a meteor shower using nuts, cake mix and common kitchen items.

By Nicola Jones of Nature magazine The past five years has seen a spurt in the creation of giant marine protection areas, including a 320,000 square-kilometer marine reserve announced earlier this month in Australia. "Now we have a competition for politicians to see who can have the biggest one," said Daniel Pauly of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, at the start of the Society for Conservation Biology's 2nd International Marine Conservation Congress in Victoria, Canada, on Saturday. [More]

Take a look at this map of the U.S. at night.

By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An Obama administration plan to protect wildlife and water in U.S.

If you want to guess how many jelly beans are in a jar, you should ask your friends.

Titan, Saturn's largest moon, has numerous lakes and seas. But they're not bodies of water--Titan's reservoirs are full of liquid hydrocarbons such as methane.

Editor's Note: The following blog post first appeared May 15 on the World Science Festival's Web site [More]