My picks from ScienceDaily

Antarctic Fish Species Adopts Winter Survival Strategy Similar To Hibernation:

Scientists have discovered an Antarctic fish species that adopts a winter survival strategy similar to hibernation. Scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the University of Birmingham reveal, for the first time, that the Antarctic 'cod' Notothenia coriiceps effectively 'puts itself on ice' to survive the long Antarctic winter.

Mysterious Eel Fishery Decline Blamed On Changing Ocean Conditions:

American eels are fast disappearing from restaurant menus as stocks have declined sharply across the North Atlantic. While the reasons for the eel decline remain as mysterious as its long migrations, a recent study by a NOAA scientist and colleagues in Japan and the United Kingdom says shifts in ocean-atmosphere conditions may be a primary factor in declining reproduction and survival rates.

Low Maternal Education Linked To Intellectual Disabilities In Offspring:

By applying a public health approach, researchers at three universities have discovered a key indicator for increased risk of mental retardation in the general population. The study assessed population-level risk factors by linking birth records of 12-14-year-old children in Florida with their respective public school records, over the course of a school year.

Smoking Doesn't Make You Happy:

If you are planning to ignore the messages of national No Smoking Day on 12th March by claiming that smoking is one of the few pleasures left to you, then recent research from the Peninsula Medical School in the South West of England may make you think again.

Mother-daughter Conflict, Low Serotonin Level May Be Deadly Combination:

A combination of negative mother-daughter relationships and low blood levels of serotonin, an important brain chemical for mood stability, may be lethal for adolescent girls, leaving them vulnerable to engage in self-harming behaviors such as cutting themselves.

Mercury Threatens Next Generation Of Loons:

A long-term study by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the BioDiversity Research Institute, and other organizations has found and confirmed that environmental mercury--much of which comes from human-generated emissions--is impacting both the health and reproductive success of common loons in the Northeast.

Mysteries Of Oceanic Bacteria Probed:

Microbes living in the oceans play a critical role in regulating Earth's environment, but very little is known about their activities and how they work together to help control natural cycles of water, carbon and energy. A team of MIT researchers led by Professors Edward DeLong and Penny Chisholm is trying to change that.

Dissolved Organic Matter In Water Column May Influence Coral Health:

Bacterial communities endemic to healthy corals could change depending on the amount and type of natural and man-made dissolved organic matter in seawater, report researchers from The University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute and Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida.

Giant Panda Genome To Be Sequenced:

The International Giant Panda Genome Project has been launched. The goal of this project is to finish the sequencing and assembling of the draft sequence within six months, according to researchers with BGI-Shenzhen.