Oysters exposed to high water temperatures and a common heavy metal are unable to obtain sufficient oxygen and convert it to cellular energy, according to a new study presented at The American Physiological Society conference, Comparative Physiology 2006.

Women infected with dormant toxoplasmosis are more likely to give birth to boys than women who are Toxoplasma negative, according to research by S. Kankova and colleagues from the Departments of Parasitology, Microbiology and Zoology, Charles University; the Centre of Reproductive Medicine; and GynCentrum, in the Czech Republic. They found that the presence of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii in the mothers' blood, one of the most common parasites in humans with a worldwide prevalence of 20-80%, increased the likelihood that these women would give birth to a boy. This is the first study, published in Springer's journal Naturwissenschaften this week, to suggest an effect of parasitic infection on the sex of a baby.

A solar-powered robot with 20/20 vision, on a search-and-destroy quest for weeds, will soon be moving up and down the crop rows at the experimental fields at the University of Illinois. What's more, this robot has the potential to control weeds while significantly reducing herbicide use.

The delicate lady bug in your garden could be frighteningly large if only there was a greater concentration of oxygen in the air, a new study concludes. The study adds support to the theory that some insects were much larger during the late Paleozoic period because they had a much richer oxygen supply, said the study's lead author Alexander Kaiser.

Seals shiver when exposed to cold air but not when diving in chilly water, a finding that researchers believe allows the diving seal to conserve oxygen and minimize brain damage that could result from long dives.

A gene called Six2 plays a critical role in the development of the kidney by keeping a population of "parent" stem cells constantly available to produce the differentiated cells that give rise to specialized parts of the organ, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Differentiation is the process by which a progenitor (unspecialized) cell develops characteristics specific to its job in the body.

The slow pace of AIDS research can be pinned, in no small part, on something akin to the square-peg-round-hole conundrum. The HIV-1 virus won't replicate in monkey cells, so researchers use a monkey virus -- known as SIVmac, or the macaque version of simian immunodeficiency virus -- to test potential therapies and vaccines in animals. But therapies and vaccines that are effective on SIV don't necessarily translate into human success. Now, using a combination of genetic engineering and forced adaptation, researchers at Rockefeller and the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center have created a version of the AIDS virus that replicates vigorously in both human and monkey cells -- an advance that has the potential to revolutionize vaccine research.

Australian scientists have identified a highly potent toxin that causes severe gastrointestinal illnesses, including food poisoning.

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have discovered how taking the brakes off a "detox" gene causes chemotherapy resistance in a common form of lung cancer.

As part of the international Census of Marine Life (CoML), a team of world renown scientists will embark on an expedition to explore coral reef biodiversity in the largest fully protected marine area in the world--the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument. Led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, with funding from NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, this 23-day research cruise to the Monument's French Frigate Shoals will be the first in a series of surveys by CoML's Census of Coral Reef Ecosystems (CReefs) project. The CoML projects are designed to assess the diversity, distribution and abundance of ocean life and explain how it changes over time. This CReefs project will provide needed baseline information and foster understanding of coral reef ecosystems globally. The cruise will take place on the NOAA ship Oscar Elton Sette and depart from Honolulu's Snug Harbor on Friday, October 6th.