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[The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.]If you're worried about news reports of West Nile virus, you might want to go take a census of the birds in your backyard. Because certain species of birds actually help the virus thrive. And they're not exactly exotic jungle fowl. In fact, they’re our more familiar feathered friends. [More]

A culture of neglect and, at some age levels, outright social ostracism, is derailing a generation of students, especially girls, deemed the very best in mathematics, according to a new study.

A new study, "Cross-Cultural Analysisof Students with Exceptional Talent in Mathematical Problem Solving,"appearing in the November 2008 Notices of the AmericanMathematical Society, brings together decades of data from severalextremely high-level mathematics competitions for young people. Thesedata show that there exist many females with profound intrinsicability in mathematics. What is more, whether this ability isidentified and nurtured is highly dependent on socio-cultural,educational, or other environmental factors.

The last two trips back to Earth by Russian spacecraft were not for the timid. Plunging to the ground on an alarmingly steep path, the ships landed hundreds of miles off course after subjecting crews to a ride so rough they found it hard to breathe.

In a study reported Friday in the Journal of Fish Biology, scientists said DNA testing proved that a pup carried by a female Atlantic blacktip shark contained no genetic material from a male.

Scale Model for ArmorA living fossil could inspire tomorrow’s armor. Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of technology, funded by the U.S. Army, investigated the primitive fish Polypterus senegalus, nicknamed the “dinosaur eel” for the suit of armor it sports. In experiments mimicking bites from a predator, the researchers found that each scale is made of three layers on a bone support that all complement one another to defy penetration. The outer coat is the hardest and most resistant to sharp teeth. The middle is softer and dissipates energy by deforming. The last layer has a plywoodlike structure, which prevents cracks from spreading. The precise sequence of these layers critically preserves armor strength--for instance, replacing the outer and middle layers in simulations increased risk of the scale coming apart. These findings, posted online July 27 by Nature Materials, could illuminate how fish evolved and lead to more effective ways of designing armor. [Mo

Toxoplasma Gondii: The Model Apicomplexan. Perspectives and Methods (Hardcover)By Louis M Weiss Buy new: $140.0012 used and new from $117.22 First tagged "science" by Jokie X Wilson "jokiex" customer tags: parasitology, preventive medicine, technical, molecular biology, immunology, microbiology, science, louis m weiss

The new rules would cut the sulfur content of the fuels ships use in controlled areas along coasts by 63 percent as of July of 2010.

A spare part for a failed Hubble instrument has unresolved 'anomalies' that could further delay a mission to fix the telescope

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - scientists using DNA testing have confirmed the second-known instance of "virgin birth" in a shark -- a female Atlantic blacktip shark named Tidbit that produced a baby without a male shark.