In the days following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, methane-eating bacteria bloomed in the Gulf of Mexico, feasting on the methane that gushed, along with oil, from the damaged well. The sudden influx of microbes was a scientific curiosity: Prior to the oil spill, scientists had observed relatively few signs of methane-eating microbes in the area.

In a remarkable 36-hour operation transplant surgeons at the University of Maryland performed the most extensive full face transplant.  The face transplant included both jaws, teeth and tongue.  This marks the first time in the world that a full face transplant was performed by a team of plastic and reconstructive surgeons with specialized training and expertise in craniofacial surger

For the first time, the scientists have produced neuron-by-neuron maps of the regions of the mouse brain that process different kinds of visual information, laying the groundwork for decoding the circuitry of the brain using cutting-edge, genetic research techniques only possible in mice.

The psychostimulant methylphenidate, known by the brand name Ritalin, is used as part of a treatment program to the control symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).  Symptoms of ADHD starts before the age of seven years and  affects about 3 to 5 percent of children world-wide. Millions of individuals diagnosed with ADHD are treated by Ritalin.

Many animals produce alarm calls to predators, and do this more often when kin or mates are present than other audience members. So far, however, there has been no evidence that they take the other group members' knowledge state into account.

When it comes to love songs, female tree frogs are pretty picky. According to a new study from the University of Missouri, certain female tree frogs may be remarkably attuned to the songs of mates who share the same number of chromosomes as they do. The researchers found female frogs can hear chromosome difference in the calls of potential mates.

Why were some dinosaurs able to get so much larger than today's terrestrial mammals? It was hypothesized that large dinosaurs might have faced a lower risk of extinction under ecological changes than similar-sized mammals, because large dinosaurs had a higher potential reproductive output than similar-sized mammals (JC hypothesis).