Parents still major influence on child’s decision to pursue science careers

ScienceDaily (2010-02-21) -- Parental influence and access to mathematics courses are likely to guide students to careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics or medicine, according to new research. ... > read full article

Discovery of nutrient 'mining machine' in plants

ScienceDaily (2010-02-21) -- Scientists have discovered which genes control the specialized nutrient mining machine that develops on the surface of plant roots. The discovery could help breeders develop crops that can grow on poor soils with low iron and phosphate. ... > read full article

Massive stars’ magnetically controlled diets

ScienceDaily (2010-02-21) -- Astronomers have shown that magnetic fields play an important role during the birth of massive stars. Magnetic fields are already known to strongly influence the formation of lower-mass stars like our Sun. This new study reveals that the way in which high-mass and low-mass stars form may be more similar than previously suspected. ... > read full article

Enzyme design with remote effects: Chemists devise new way of optimizing enzymes for industrial applications

ScienceDaily (2010-02-17) -- Engineers are unlikely to tinker with the cooling system if they want to increase the size of an engine. Yet chemists in Germany have adopted an approach similar to this in their efforts to optimize an enzyme for practical applications. They substituted two amino acids at a site relatively distal to the biocatalyst's binding pocket, the location where the chemical reaction takes place. ... > read full article

Sellafield: inside the big clean-up - Times Online

Sellafield: inside the big clean-up - Times Online