The brain acts as a timekeeper for each cell’s 24-hour body clock, keeping this clock in sync with the world so that it can govern our appetites, sleep, moods and more. But new research shows that the clock may be broken in the brain cells of people with depression, meaning they operate out of sync with the usual ingrained daily cycle. [ + ]

Geneticist Dan Koboldt from the Genome Institute at Washington University in St Louis gives his decalogue on next-generation sequencing. [ + ]

Phosphagenics (ASX:POH) and a US Department of Agriculture research agency will jointly formulate and test products aimed at fighting the bacterial infection mastitis in dairy cows. [ + ]

The 2013 Federal Budget has come down with cuts and pardons spread across the board for science, research, industry and education. [ + ]

AusBiotech is pleased to announce that the 11th Annual World Congress of the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics (SBMT) will be held in Australia for the first time in March 2014. [ + ]

Researchers have shown in a mouse model that infection with roundworms (nematodes) can not only combat obesity but ameliorate related metabolic disorders. [ + ]

Neurobiologists have reproduced a sense of touch - showing how an organism can sense a tactile stimulus, in real time, through an artificial sensor in a prosthetic hand. [ + ]

Starpharma (ASX:SPL) said its lead dendrimer candidate has shown potential as the first treatment for adenovirus, the primary cause of viral conjunctivitis. [ + ]

Bioniche (ASX:BNC) is in talks with its lender to address a looming cash shortage and consulting with advisers to address the “challenges” posed by a group of dissident shareholders. [ + ]

Four public organisations have joined forces to take an international approach in health and medical research advocacy. [ + ]

IBM scientists have unveiled the world’s smallest movie, made with one of the tiniest elements in the universe: atoms. Named A Boy and His Atom, the Guinness World Records-verified movie used thousands of precisely placed atoms to create nearly 250 frames of stop-motion action. [ + ]

In the very early hours of the morning, in a Harvard robotics laboratory, an insect called a RoboBee took flight achieving vertical take-off, hovering and steering. Half the size of a paperclip, weighing less than a tenth of a gram, it leapt a few inches, hovered for a moment on fragile, flapping wings and then sped along a pre-set route through the air. [ + ]

Data from studies involving Allied Healthcare’s (ASX:AHZ) CardioCel technology in cardiovascular repair and stem cell growth were presented at two recent medical meetings. [ + ]

New ASX disclosure guidelines on monitoring social media for leaks of market-sensitive information herald a new era of reporting compliance, according to Buchan Consulting. [ + ]

One of Australia’s premier research facilities, the newly refurbished La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, has installed an extensive range of Enware safety, laboratory and specialist plumbing solutions into its teaching, research and laboratory facilities. [ + ]