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An analysis of stowaway frogs coming into Australia has shown that strict biosecurity measures at borders and within the country are reducing the risk of introduction of new diseases by up to 50%.

The alien frogs could potentially bring in diseases that could devastate local wildlife.

Pablo García-Díaz, lead author, is surveying for alien vertebrates in the rain forest of Christmas Island. Credit: Photo: Pablo García-Díaz

In recent years, evidence has been building suggesting that flame retardants, which are used in furniture and electronics, are potentially linked to health problems. And studies have shown that the substances leach out of products, and end up in indoor dust, air and in us. Now, scientists report in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology how flame retardants in our homes could also be contaminating surface water through our laundry.

TAMPA, Fla. (Aug. 10, 2016) - When researchers from the University of South Florida (USF) and colleagues investigated how the stress hormone, corticosterone, affects how birds cope with West Nile virus, they found that birds with higher levels of stress hormone were twice as likely to be bitten by mosquitoes that transmit the virus. Their studies have implications for the transmission of other viruses such as Eastern Equine Encephalitis, and perhaps even Zika, both known to be carried by the kind of mosquitoes used in this study.

SAN FRANCISCO (August 10, 2016) -- Scientists have discovered a new species of colorful songbird in the Galápagos Islands, with one catch: it's extinct.

Nearly 80 percent of peanut-allergic preschool children successfully incorporated peanut-containing foods into their diets after receiving peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT), a clinical trial has found. Peanut OIT involves eating small, gradually increasing amounts of peanut protein daily. Low-dose and high-dose OIT were safe and equally effective at suppressing allergic immune responses to peanut, investigators found.

For years scientists and dieticians have argued over the health benefits of dietary fat. Research published this week, however, shows that piggybacking onto natural fat absorption pathways can dramatically enhance the utility of some drugs.

One of the key goals of drug development has long been to produce a therapy that can be taken orally (therefore cheap and easy to deliver) and is absorbed as directly and quickly into the blood stream as possible.

Nagoya, Japan - During cultivation of wild cereals such as rice for human agricultural use, a number of domestication-related traits have been selected for over time. These include an upright growth habit, the ability of the plant to keep its seed when ripe rather than dispersing it, and a lack of awns, which are bristles that grow from grass ears. Both Asian and African cultivated rice species share these traits despite their geographical isolation from each other. This suggests the traits' usefulness in promoting agriculture.

The upconversion of photons allows for a more efficient use of light: Two photons are converted into a single photon having higher energy. Researchers at KIT now showed for the first time that the inner interfaces between surface-mounted metal-organic frameworks (SURMOFs) are suited perfectly for this purpose - they turned green light blue. The result, which is now being published in the Advanced Materials journal, opens up new opportunities for optoelectronic applications such as solar cells or LEDs. (DOI: 10.1002/adma.201601718)

A research team, led by Emeritus Professor Kazuhiro Nakaya of Japan's Hokkaido University, analyzed world-first footage captured by public broadcaster NHK in which two goblin sharks separately captured prey on a total of five occasions. The research has unraveled a century-old mystery surrounding how the deep-sea shark utilizes its protruding jaws, among other factors, to feed itself.

The goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) was first discovered in deep waters off Japan in 1898.

Lentiviruses cause a variety of chronic diseases in mammals --- ranging from the most notorious example of HIV/AIDS in humans to various neurological disorders in primates----yet little is known of their evolutionary history and origin.

As HIV/AIDS has emerged only recently and so far eluded efforts to outwit it, researchers have been looking at imprints left by related viruses in other animals to better understand their origins. Until recently, the oldest known lentiviral lineages --- in lemurs, rabbits and ferrets --- have been found to date back to 3-12 million years ago.

Higher levels of total physical activity are strongly associated with lower risk of five common chronic diseases - breast and bowel cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, finds a study in The BMJ today.

Many studies have shown the health benefits of physical activity. This has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend a minimum total physical activity level of 600 metabolic equivalent (MET) minutes a week across different 'domains' of daily life.

The use of a newly-developed mosquito trap incorporating human odour has resulted in a 70% decline in the population of the most significant malaria mosquito on the Kenyan island of Rusinga. After the introduction of the odour-baited traps on the island the proportion of people with malaria was 30% lower among those living in houses with a trap compared to people living in houses who were yet to receive a trap. The study was published today in The Lancet, a leading scientific journal. Prof.

An international research team has linked rare variations in a cell membrane protein to the wide variation in symptom severity that is a hallmark of porphyria, a rare disorder that often affects the skin, liver and nervous system. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital helped to lead the research, which appears today in the journal Nature Communications and suggests possible new treatment strategies.

Dublin, Ireland, August 10th 2016: A new study by academics in Trinity College Dublin has found that there is a strong positive relationship between planned birth at home and breast feeding: breastfeeding was twice as likely after planned home births compared to hospital births. The research involved the largest population cohorts comprehensively examined to date for an association between breast feeding outcomes and place of birth in low risk pregnancies.

Hamilton, ON, August 9, 2016 - Researchers from McMaster University have evaluated and determined the best ventilation strategy to prevent chronic lung disease, one of the most significant complications in preterm infants.

The study, published today in the Journal of American Medical Association, compared seven different ventilation strategies. Based on data collected from 30 different trials and over 5,500 infants younger than 33 weeks' gestational age, the lead author of the study, Dr. Tetsuya Isayama, said one strategy appeared more effective than most.