Although many researchers agree that aquatic systems are extremely vulnerable to climate change, marine research is severely under-resourced when compared to research being done on land.

Scientists say this shortfall of aquatic research and documentation is due to many factors, including the distribution of global science funding, the difficulty of understanding poorly sampled aquatic systems, the way marine ecologists report research findings, and limitations in the existing Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) process.

Bicycle production increased 3.2 percent in 2007, bringing the number of new bicycles manufactured to 130 million annually, according to Worldwatch Institute estimates published in the latest Vital Signs Update. Two-thirds of this production continues to take place in China, which has long been an industry leader.

More and more cities are announcing plans to launch or expand bike-sharing schemes as part of a growing effort to reduce city congestion and extend public transportation options without huge infrastructure investments. Earlier this year, Paris rolled out 20,000 bikes at more than 1,450 rental stations throughout the city—four times as many stations as subway stops. Other cities have shown similar initiative, including Copenhagen, Berlin, and, more recently, Rome and Washington, D.C.

“Spreading bicycle use goes hand in hand with sustainable transportation,” said Gary Gardner, a senior researcher for the Worldwatch Institute and the author of the Update. “It’s good for people’s health and is a low-cost way to reduce pollution.”

Many of the places with the highest cycling rates have emphasized policies that give priority to cycling, walking, and public transportation over private automobiles. These same policies have all made cycling safe, fast, and convenient.

“With the right leadership from policymakers worldwide, bicycle use could take off and become part of the solution to climate change,” added Gardner.

Too much activity from a brain receptor that regulates the hormone serotonin can cause sporadic death in developing mice with features reminiscent of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in humans, researchers say.

Research involving large Middle Eastern families, sophisticated genetic analysis and groundbreaking neuroscience has implicated a half-dozen new genes in autism.

The study strongly supports the emerging idea that autism stems from disruptions in the brain's ability to form new connections in response to experience – consistent with autism's onset during the first year of life, when many of these connections are normally made.

Relatively little is known about Mercury, the innermost of the four terrestrial planets in our solar system. In 1975 the Mariner 10 spacecraft returned intriguing images that showed smooth plains covering large swaths of Mercury's surface. But scientists could not determine whether the plains had been created by volcanic activity or by material ejected from below the surface when objects had collided into it. Thus, they could not reach a consensus over Mercury's geologic past. The new MESSENGER space mission has found evidence of past volcanic activity.