Preliminary results from an ongoing, large-scale study shows that oxytocin -- a naturally occurring substance produced in the brain and throughout the body -- increased brain function in regions that are known to process social information in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

New simulation study shows that atmosphere warms when pollution intensifies storms. How much the warming effect of these clouds offsets the cooling that other clouds provide is not yet clear.

Older adults who drank coffee -- caffeinated or decaffeinated -- had a lower risk of death overall than others who did not drink coffee, according a new study.

Researchers have detected a possible planet, some 1,500 light years away, that appears to be evaporating under the blistering heat of its parent star. The scientists infer that a long tail of debris -- much like the tail of a comet -- is following the planet, and that this tail may tell the story of the planet's disintegration. According to the team's calculations, the tiny exoplanet, not much larger than Mercury, will completely disintegrate within 100 million years.

Pregnant women, including those who are obese or overweight, should be encouraged to minimize weight gain through diet, according to major new research.

These coatings offer protection against rust, scratches and moisture and also improve adhesion: Surfaces with a nano coating. A new plasma process enables these coatings to be applied more easily and cost-efficiently -- on an industrial scale.

Scientists have developed and validated a more accurate method for predicting the interaction energy of large molecules, such as biomolecules used to develop new drugs.

A large survey of human genetic variation shows that rare genetic variants are not so rare after all, and offers insights into human diseases. A team of scientists studied 202 genes in 14,002 people -- one of the largest ever in a sequencing study in humans.

Findings suggest that the effects of exercise on memory depend on the age of the exerciser; underlying genetic mechanisms matter, too.

Researchers have identified the mechanism by which protein Zds1 regulates a key function in mitosis, the process that occurs immediately before cell division. The research opens the door to developing targeted and direct therapies against cancer.

The rate at which the rabies virus evolves in bats may depend heavily upon the ecological traits of its hosts, according to new research. Rabies viruses in tropical and sub-tropical bat species evolved nearly four times faster than viral variants in bats in temperate regions.

Intricate, often invisible chains of life are threatened with extinction around the world. A new study quantifies one of the longest such chains ever documented.

Physicists and biologists are addressing an important fundamental question in basic cell biology: how do living cells figure out when and where to grow?

The first purely silicon oxide-based "resistive RAM" memory chip that can operate in ambient conditions -- opening up the possibility of new super-fast memory -- has now been developed.

A surgical milestone was reached on May 1st with a sutureless aortic valve replacement through a thoracic incision just 5 centimeters long. The two patients in their seventies who underwent this innovative procedure were doing well only one week after their operations.

Whether you're an iPerson who can't live without a Mac, a Facebook addict, or a gamer, you know that social media and technology say things about your personality and thought processes. And psychological scientists know it too -- they've started researching how new media and devices both reveal and change our mental states.

The quantities are very small, but in milk powder and in meat-based baby food, residues of drugs given to livestock were found. Researchers have now developed a system to analyze these substances quickly and precisely. Antibiotics, such as tilmicosine, or antiparasitic drugs, such as levamisole, are given to livestock in order to avoid illness, but they can remain later in food.

Australian freshwater crayfish have a tooth enamel very similar to humans. Nature sometimes copies its own particularly successful developments. Scientists have now found that the teeth of the Australian freshwater crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus are covered with an enamel amazingly similar to that of vertebrates. Both materials consist of calcium phosphate and are also very alike in terms of their microstructure. This extremely hard substance has apparently developed in freshwater crayfish independently from vertebrates, as it makes the teeth particularly strong.

Placental stem cells with important therapeutic properties can be harvested in large quantities from the fetal side of human term placentas (called the chorion). The chorion is a part of the afterbirth and is normally discarded after delivery, but it contains stem cells of fetal origin that appear to be pluripotent -- i.e., they can differentiate into different types of human cells, such as lung, liver, or brain cells. Since these functional placental stem cells can be isolated from either fresh or frozen term human placentas, this implies that if each individual’s placenta is stored at birth instead of thrown away, these cells can be harvested in the future if therapeutic need arises. This potential represents a major breakthrough in the stem cell field.

This Smithsonian Snapshot marks the May 18, 1969, launch of the Apollo 10 mission with an astronaut's space meal from that mission.