Scientists at the US Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory are revealing the mysteries of new materials using ultrafast laser spectroscopy - a technique in which many quick images reveal subtle movements and changes inside the materials. [ + ]

Singing is almost as common in female birds as in males, challenging long-held theories about it being an exclusively male trait. [ + ]

Neuren's (ASX:NEU) cash balance of $25m should be enough to fund key clinical trials of neurological drug candidate NNZ-2566 through to the expected receipt of licensing revenue in 2015, Bell Potter says. [ + ]

Nobel laureate Dr James D Watson has released a new hypothesis on the causation of type 2 diabetes. [ + ]

WEHI joins international partnership to help eliminate malaria. [ + ]

ANSTO's CEO, Dr Adrian (Adi) Paterson, has been reappointed and businessman James McDowell has joined the ANSTO board. [ + ]

Building on the strategic plan that was presented at the AusBiotech national conference in November by AusBiotech Chair Dr Deborah Rathjen, the organisation is continuing its call for further tax reform in Australia. [ + ]

Laurence Gozlan, Nathan Drona and Dr Geert Cauwenbergh have joined Phosphagenics (ASX:POH) as non-executive directors. [ + ]

Fibrotech Therapeutics has been awarded patents in the US and Canada covering its portfolio of antifibrotic drug candidates. [ + ]

Researchers from the University of Chicago Medicine have found that the process of genome analysis, which could typically take many months, can be rapidly accelerated. [ + ]

The 2014 Australia to US Fellowships are open to applications. [ + ]

Quantachrome Instruments has announced that its Autosorb iQ surface area and pore size analysers have been chosen to equip the new NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) FACT (Facility for Adsorbent Characterization and Testing) laboratory in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA. [ + ]

A newly discovered microbe appears to be a key mediator of methane-based positive feedback to climate warming. [ + ]

In the latest announcement dedicating almost $186 million in funding, the federal government will create three new cooperative research centres (CRCs) and extend four existing CRCs, including the Hearing CRC and the Cancer Therapeutics CRC, to drive research that will deliver practical benefits. [ + ]

Immuron (ASX:IMC) has completed a $9.66m capital raising, giving it funds to commence a phase IIb trial of its liver disease drug candidate in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). [ + ]