My Picks From ScienceDaily

High Melatonin Content Can Help Delay Aging, Mouse Study Suggests:

A study carried out by researchers from the University of Granada's Institute of Biotechnology shows that consuming melatonin neutralizes oxidative damage and delays the neurodegenerative process of aging. In this study researchers used normal and genetically-modified mice which were subjected to accelerated cell aging. Researchers believe their results can also be applied to humans.

Hibernating Bears Conserve More Muscle Strength Than Humans On Bed Rest Do:

A new study in the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology quantifiably measures the loss of strength and endurance in black bears during long periods of hibernation. T.D. Lohuis (Alaska Department of Fish and Game) and his coauthors find that black bears in hibernation lose about one-half as much skeletal muscle strength as humans confined to bed rest for similar periods of time do.

Vomit Flower Power: Can A Taste For Poison Drive Speciation?:

The endless struggle for survival in nature inevitably boils down to finding food and eluding predators. To avoid the latter, many plants produce chemical weapons to discourage predators. A sound strategy overall, but the rules of co-evolutionary war suggest that an herbivore will evolve resistance to the toxic defenses of plants.

Sea Squirt, Heal Thyself: Scientists Make Major Breakthrough In Regenerative Medicine:

Findings described in a new study by Stanford scientists may be the first step toward a major revolution in human regenerative medicine--a future where advanced organ damage can be repaired by the body itself. In the May 2007 issue of The FASEB Journal, researchers show that a human evolutionary ancestor, the sea squirt, can correct abnormalities over a series of generations, suggesting that a similar regenerative process might be possible in people.

The Emerging Fate Of The Neandertals:

For nearly a century, anthropologists have been debating the relationship of Neandertals to modern humans. Central to the debate is whether Neandertals contributed directly or indirectly to the ancestry of the early modern humans that succeeded them.