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After the initial tumor has been removed, patients typically receive a relatively weak chemotherapy drug that can bypass the brain's barricade. News Cracking the code to brain cancer treatment might start with cracking the brain's protective shield. A study shows how pairing ultrasound with microbubbles temporarily opens the brain's protective barrier, allowing a potent chemotherapy drug to access the brain. [Extracted from the article]

By using a white light laser to illuminate the animal's muscles and skin separately, the team found that the muscles generated the multicolored sheen. The ghost catfish transforms from glassy to glam when white light passes through its mostly transparent body. Now scientists know why: The fish's iridescence comes from light bending as it travels through microscopic banded structures in the animal's muscles, researchers report in the March 21 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Extracted from the article]

News Every male ant contains separate populations of cells from two distinct genetic lineages, making them "chimeras", researchers report in the April 7 Science. But rather than having two sets of chromosomes within somatic cells, these males had just one set, as is typical of other ant species. A 2007 study, however, found that about half of the sampled male yellow crazy ants possessed two copies of the same genes, just like the species's female worker ants. [Extracted from the article]

The wiring of one insect's brain no longer contains much uncharted territory. All of the nerve cells - and virtually every connection between them - have now been mapped in a larval fruit fly brain, researchers report in the March 10 Science. Exploring the neuron connectivity patterns - not only directly linked partners but also distantly connected ones, like distant relatives on a family tree - revealed 93 different types of neurons. [Extracted from the article]

Another area of the exhibition presents people's ancient and modern-day connections to the night sky through photographs, stories and cultural items. "Cultures all over the world have a deep relationship to the night sky", says Stephen Loring, cocurator of the exhibition and an archaeologist at the museum. Bright, artificial lights are drowning out the night sky's natural glow. [Extracted from the article]

News NEWS ARCHAEOLOGY WASHINGTON - The tale of the first horseback riders may be written on the bones of the ancient Yamnaya people. Nine other Yamnaya individuals probably also rode horses, the team says, but those skeletons each had only three markers. Five excavated skeletons dated to about 3000 to 2500 B.C. show clear signs of physical stress that hint these Yamnaya individuals may have frequently ridden horses, researchers reported March 3 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting and in Science Advances. [Extracted from the article]

Serotonin and other polar compounds didn't induce growth because they have unevenly distributed electric charges and can't get into cells without the help of transporter proteins, which are virtually nonexistent in rat cortical neurons. NEUROSCIENCE Psychedelics go beneath the cell surface to unleash their potentially therapeutic effects. To figure out why these two types of chemicals affect neurons differently, Olson and colleagues tweaked serotonin and several similar compounds to change how well they activated the receptor. [Extracted from the article]

Some quick measurements revealed that the frog's eyes were smaller than other spiny-throated reed frogs', which raised the possibility that it could be a new species. Since the frog species in this voiceless group so far are endangered or vulnerable, it is vital to distinguish any new species and get them added to the conservation priority list, Lawson says. It joins a group of seven other voiceless frog species called spiny-throated reed frogs that reside in East Africa. [Extracted from the article]

In the new study, researchers looked at cells from these budding fingerprint ridges and identified three chemical messengers that transfer information between cells: WNT, EDAR and BMP. Scientists knew that fingerprint ridges begin forming as downward growths into the skin, like trenches. [Extracted from the article]

News Shape-shifting liquid metal robots might not be limited to science fiction anymore. Researchers embedded the metal with magnetic particles to direct the metal's movements with magnets. This Lego-like figurine escaped from prison Terminator 2-style thanks to a new composite of gallium and magnetic particles, which liquefies in the presence of a changing magnetic field and moves under the guidance of a permanent magnet. [Extracted from the article]

One contentious encounter doesn't signal a cat-astrophic relationship, Gajdos-Kmecová says. Studying feline social relationships is not new, but distinguishing whether two cats are playing or fighting is an overlooked area, says veterinarian Noema Gajdos-Kmecová of the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Kosice, Slovakia. Owners should look at interactions over time to understand their cats' relationship. [Extracted from the article]