Borrowing genes from bacteria, coral and jellyfish, scientists have set mice brains aglow in a bold panoply of colors, revealing the intricate highways and byways of neuronal connections.

The technique, dubbed "Brainbow" by its Harvard University inventors, is detailed in the Nov. 1 issue of the journal Nature.

©Credit: Livet et al. Nature 1st Nov 2007

In 'Brainbow' transgenic mice, nerve cells randomly express fluorescent proteins of different colors. Combinations of these proteins label neurons with multiple distinct hues, as seen here neurons of the hippocampus (confocal microscopy, dentate gyrus).

Previous techniques for highlighting neurons used at most two colors. One common approach developed in 1873 by an Italian physician and still used today, called the Golgi method, stains neurons in their entirety but only affects a few brain cells at a time.

In contrast, Brainbow allows researchers to tag several hundred neurons at once with roughly 90 distinct colors. The resulting images , which resemble abstract color paintings, are both beautiful and informative. They look like they could hang in a modern art museum and are among the most detailed images of neuronal connections ever made.

An enormous cold spot in our universe could be explained by a cosmic defect in the fabric of space-time created shortly after the Big Bang, scientists say.

©V. Travieso and N. Turok/University of Cambridge

The figure shows a random collection of textures taken from high-resolution, supercomputer simulations. Red indicates a positive twist in the topological charge density and blue a negative twist. Credit: V. Travieso and N. Turok/University of Cambridge

If confirmed by future studies, the finding, detailed in the Oct. 25 issue of the journal Science, could provide cosmologists with a long-sought clue about how the infant universe evolved.

But other scientists, and even members of the study team, are skeptical of the new claim.

Ohio State University geologists and their colleagues have uncovered evidence of when Earth may have first supported an oxygen-rich atmosphere similar to the one we breathe today. The development of an oxygen atmosphere signaled a major change in the evolution on life, and gave way for the numerous forms of oxygen-utilizing organisms we see on the Earth's surface today. Studying how and when this oxygen-rich atmosphere came to be can provide important insight into how life on Earth has evolved alongside our planet's changing climate.

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During the Ordovician period, which began around 490 million years ago, many new species sprang into being. The first coral reefs formed during that time, and the first true fish swam among them. New plants evolved and began colonizing land.

Israel will fortify its commercial airplanes with new, laser-based missile-defense technology designed by Elbit subsidiary El-Op, the company announced this month.

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disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

Scientists have been astounded by the creation of a genetically modified "supermouse" with extraordinary physical abilities - comparable to the performance of the very best athletes - raising the prospect that the discovery may one day be used to transform people's capacities.

The world's smallest hard drives have already shrunk to the size of a postage stamp, but nanoscale computing may soon make that achievement look elephantine, say some of the stars of information technology.

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In the olden days...

The radar system on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter has uncovered new details about some of the most mysterious deposits on Mars: the Medusae Fossae Formation. It has provided the first direct measurement of the depth and electrical properties of these materials, providing new clues about their origin.

©NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/Italian Space Agency/Univ. of Rome/Smithsonian

This image combining a topographic map viewed obliquely (color portion of image) with a radargram of the subsurface (monochrome portion) shows features of mysterious Martian deposits named the Medusae Fossae Formation. The westward-looking view includes the divide between Martian highlands on the south and lowlands on the north, spanning a range from about 12 degrees south latitude (left edge of image) to 5 degrees north latitude (right edge of image). The deposits of the Medusae Fossae Formation are found in the lowlands along the divide, in the center foreground. The radar sounder on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter has revealed echoes from what is interpreted as a boundary between the overlying deposits and underlying lowland plains buried by these deposits.

Stars always evolve in the universe in large groups, known as clusters. Astronomers distinguish these formations by their age and size. The question of how star clusters are created from interstellar gas clouds and why they then develop in different ways has now been answered by researchers at the Argelander Institute for Astronomy at the University of Bonn with the aid of computer simulations. The scientists have solved - at least at a theoretical level - one of the oldest astronomical puzzles, namely the question of whether star clusters differ in their internal structure.

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For astronomers, another important insight from this work is that both light and heavy star clusters do have the same origins. As Professor Kroupa explains, "It seems that when the universe was born there were not only globular clusters but also countless mini star clusters. A challenge now for astrophysics is to find their remains." The computations in Bonn have paved the way for this search by providing some valuable theoretical pointers.

Scientists have found a key protein that helps newts regrow severed limbs and which may guide future research into human regenerative medicine.

©REUTERS/Handout.Anoop Kumar

An undated phtoo of a North American newt. Scientists have found a key protein that helps newts regrow severed limbs and which may guide future research into human regenerative medicine.

HOUSTON (AP) - NASA worked furiously Thursday to plan a spacewalk to fix the ripped solar wing at the international space station, hoping to solve the problem before the shuttle Discovery undocks.

©AP Photo/NASA

This image provided by NASA shows the damage to a solar array which ripped as it was being unfurled by astronauts aboard the international space station on Tuesday Oct. 30, 2007.