The investment will see the Australian Space Agency foster the new ideas and high-tech skilled jobs that should make Australian businesses a partner of choice to fit out NASA missions. [ + ]

The hormone oxytocin may play a role in hypersexual disorder — a breakthrough that could potentially open the door to treating the disorder by engineering a way to suppress its activity. [ + ]

The microscopes feature innovative optical technologies that allow fast scanning as well as direct visualisation and quantification of the captured data. [ + ]

The dipeptide leucine–histidine (LH) — found in fermented foods such as blue cheese and natto (fermented soy beans) — plays a role in suppressing microglial activation and depression-associated emotional disturbances. [ + ]

Researchers have revealed that the rate at which microRNA molecules undergo a process called methylation is able to discriminate cancer patients from healthy individuals. [ + ]

A simple arthritis drug could be an effective, low-cost solution to treat patients with blood cancers such as polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocythemia (ET). [ + ]

By measuring intact living cancer cells in the patient's blood, rather than the PSA protein, the method potentially provides a more accurate test for prostate cancer. [ + ]

The iQ Group Global has announced its acquisition of a novel anticancer drug platform, known as TEX Core, from the University of Texas. [ + ]

The immune system uses zinc as an antimicrobial for protection during attack by Streptococcus pneumoniae, the primary bacterial cause of pneumonia. [ + ]

Scientists from the University of Tasmania are among an international research team that recently set out to crack the secret of the unique cubed poo of wombats. [ + ]

What if there were a way to delay egg ageing, without losing egg quality? Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have now discovered the switch that may do this — in worms. [ + ]

German researchers have developed a new microscopy method whereby the unusual properties of graphene electromagnetically interact with fluorescing molecules. [ + ]

US scientists have utilised an existing antibody drug to pull down the protective wall that surrounds tumours, potentially re-exposing them to the killing power of the immune system. [ + ]

Researchers have identified a specific gene they believe could be a key player in the changes in brain structure seen in several psychiatric conditions, such as schizophrenia and autism. [ + ]

Thermo Fisher Scientific has entered into a collaboration with Cedars-Sinai and elected Debora Spar to its board of directors. [ + ]