Korean researchers have identified a new type of microRNA molecule which suppresses a gene that plays an important part in lung cancer, the National Research Foundation of Korea said Sunday.Further studies on the newly identified miR-9500 can potentially enable early diagnosis of lung cancer and can even be applied to lung cancer treatment, researchers said. The study was presented last month in the online edition of the academic journal Cell Death and Differentiation, published by Nature Publis

BERLIN (AP) ― After racing against the clock in an all-night session, the U.N.’s expert panel on climate change was putting the final touches Saturday on a scientific guide to help governments, industries and regular people take action to stop global warming from reaching dangerous levels.As always when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change adopts one of its high-profile reports, the weeklong talks in Berlin were slowed by wrangling between scientists and governments over which words, ch

All you need is love -- and maybe an old tooth.During an episode of Dead Famous DNA on Channel 4 in England, Canadian dentist Dr. Michael Zuk revealed that he plans on using DNA from one of John Lennon’s teeth to make a clone baby that he can raise as his own. “If there is enough DNA to sequence it, it could be basically genetic real estate,” Zuk said. “My goal is to own John Lennon’s DNA.” Zuk purchased Lennon’s molar for $33,000 when it was put up for auction about three years ago. The doctor

TOKYO (AFP) ― A young female scientist accused of fabricating data made a tearful apology live on Japanese television Wednesday for “mistakes” in her research, but insisted her ground-breaking conclusions on stem cells were accurate.Haruko Obokata, 30, blamed her youth and inexperience for errors in her methodology, but said she had managed to create the building-block cells capable of growing into the specialized cells of the brain, liver, heart or kidneys.“I apologize with my whole heart to my

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) ― North and South America, get ready for the first eclipse of the year ― in color.Next Tuesday morning, the moon will be eclipsed by Earth’s shadow. This total lunar eclipse will be visible across the Western Hemisphere. The total phase will last 78 minutes, beginning at 3:06 a.m. EDT and ending at 4:24 a.m. EDT.The moon will be rising in the western Pacific, and so only the last half of the eclipse will be visible there. In much of Europe and Africa, the moon will b

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Ten world-class soloists put costly Stradivarius violins and new, cheaper ones to a blind scientific test. The results may seem off-key to musicians and collectors, but the new instruments won handily.When the lights were dimmed and the musicians donned dark glasses, the soloists’ top choice out of a dozen old and new violins tested was by far a new one. So was the second choice, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Of the

BERLIN (AP) ― The head of the United Nations scientific panel on climate change urged diplomats and scientists to show “enlightenment” Monday, as they began a weeklong meeting aimed at spelling out in plain terms what options the world has if it wants to prevent catastrophic global warming.Delegates at the closed-doors meeting in Berlin need to tackle a number of sensitive issues, including how best to cut carbon emissions and how to share the cost of shifting away from the fossil fuels that are

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) ― Scientists have uncovered a vast ocean beneath the icy surface of Saturn’s little moon Enceladus.Italian and American researchers made the discovery using Cassini, a NASA-European spacecraft still exploring Saturn and its rings 17 years after its launch from Cape Canaveral.This new ocean of liquid water ― as big as or even bigger than North America’s Lake Superior ― is centered at the south pole of Enceladus and could encompass much if not most of the moon. Encelad

BERLIN (AP) ― After concluding that global warming almost certainly is man-made and poses a grave threat to humanity, the U.N.-sponsored expert panel on climate change is moving on to the next phase: what to do about it.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, will meet next week in Berlin to chart ways in which the world can curb the greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say are overheating the planet.It is also trying to give estimates on what it would cost.In the third repor

Korea University researchers have collided matter and antimatter particles in a study that could provide essential information on why antimatter is almost nonexistent. Using a linear particle accelerator, researchers smashed an electron into a positron ― the antimatter version of an electron ― at nearly the speed of light, producing a type of subatomic particle called a charm quark meson. This charm quark meson is made up of two smaller particles ― a “charm” quark and an “up” antiquark ― and exi

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― After insisting that space relations wouldn’t be altered by earthly politics, NASA on Wednesday said it was severing ties with Russia except for the International Space Station.NASA employees can’t travel to Russia or host visitors until further notice. They’re also barred from emailing or holding teleconferences with their Russian counterparts because of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, according to a memo sent to workers.Activities related to the space station are exempt. NASA a

TOKYO (AP) ― A Japanese government-funded laboratory said Tuesday it found that data in a widely heralded stem-cell research paper was falsified, holding the lead researcher responsible for the fabrication.The research results from the Riken Center for Development Biology in Kobe, western Japan, were seen as a possible groundbreaking method for growing tissue to treat illnesses such as diabetes and Parkinson’s disease using a simple lab procedure.Scientists at the institute said significant disc