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LA JOLLA, CA—December 22, 2013—Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have demonstrated a drug-discovery strategy with a double payoff—it enables the rapid selection of chemical compounds that have a desired effect on cells and also highlights how the compounds work.

Climate change has not been strongly influenced by variations in heat from the sun, a new scientific study shows.

The findings overturn a widely held scientific view that lengthy periods of warm and cold weather in the past might have been caused by periodic fluctuations in solar activity.

For years, scientists have assumed that if mercury is high and increasing in fish in the North American and European Arctic, the same is true of fish elsewhere in the Arctic.

But a team of scientists from the U.S., Russia, and Canada has discovered that assumption is wrong in much of the continental Arctic.

New research using data from NASA's Van Allen Probes mission helps resolve decades of scientific uncertainty over the origin of ultra-relativistic electrons in Earth's near space environment, and is likely to influence our understanding of planetary magnetospheres throughout the universe.

When NASA's Terra satellite passed over Tropical Cyclone Amara on December 20, its western quadrant was already moving over Rodrigues Island, Mauritius. Warnings are already in effect for the island, where residents are expecting hurricane-force winds.

A Class 3 tropical cyclone warning was in effect for the island on Dec. 20 and 21 as Amara brings heavy rains, hurricane-force winds, and strong storm surge to the island. Rodrigues Island is part of the Republic of Mauritius, and is located in the Southern Indian Ocean.

Tropical Cyclone Bruce continued to strengthen over wide open waters of the Southern Indian Ocean and NASA satellite data showed its eye had cleared of clouds. Bruce is forecast to stay away from land areas and weaken over the next four days.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of a more wide-eyed Tropical Cyclone Bruce on Dec. 20 at 04:30 UTC. In the satellite image, the ocean surface was visible in the center of Bruce's 25 nautical-mile/28.7 mile/46.3 km-wide eye.

Massive stars – those at least 8 times the mass of our Sun – present an intriguing mystery: how do they grow so large when the vast majority of stars in the Milky Way are considerably smaller?

To find the answer, astronomers used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope to survey the cores of some of the darkest, coldest, and densest clouds in our Galaxy to search for the telltale signs of star formation.

According to KATC Channel 3 in Lafayette, LA on December 17, 2013 , thick plumes of smoke are visible for miles around Acadiana (the mostly French region of Louisiana in the southern part of the state). They aren't major fires, but instead controlled-sugar cane burns. But some residents living near the fields say the flames have been getting too close for comfort.

Astronomers led by a Curtin University researcher have discovered a new population of exploding stars that "switch off" their radio transmissions before collapsing into a Black Hole.

These exploding stars use all of their energy to emit one last strong beam of highly energetic radiation – known as a gamma-ray burst – before they die.

NEW YORK —Right now, many consumers are signing up for healthcare via the new health insurance exchanges set up by the federal and state governments. Using simulated exchanges modeled on the design of the actual exchanges, alarming new research from Columbia Business School suggests that more than 80% of consumers may be unable to make a clear–eyed estimate of their needs and will unknowingly choose a higher cost plan than needed.

Tropical Cyclone Bruce was still maintaining hurricane-force in the Southern Indian Ocean when NASA's Terra satellite passed over the eye of the storm.

Amara does, however, threaten Rodrigues Island. The Mauritius Meteorological Service or MMS has already put a cyclone class 2 warning in effect for Rodrigues Island. The island is part of the Republic of Mauritius and is located about 350 miles/560 kilometers east of Mauritius.

NASA's Aqua satellite flew overhead as the fourth tropical cyclone of the Southern Indian Ocean cyclone season developed today, December 18, while it was passing to the northwest of Cocos Island, Australia.

Tropical Cyclone Amara's eye appeared elongated on satellite imagery from NASA on December 18.

Astronomers affiliated with the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) have discovered two of the brightest and most distant supernovae ever recorded, 10 billion light-years away and a hundred times more luminous than a normal supernova. Their findings appear in the Dec. 20 issue of the Astrophysical Journal.