[Wired]
The first annual Wired News rundown of the year's 10 most important scientific breakthroughs.

[Belfast Telegraph]
Scientists in California have made a breakthrough in the treatment of liver damage, having developed a drug that not only slows progression of cirrhosis but also reverses damage to the organ.

[Discover]
Discover magazine's Top 100 Science Stories of 2007—"the trends and events that most changed our understanding and our world."

[ars technica]
Science magazine's top scientific breakthroughs of 2007.

[Science Blog]
Researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have corrected key symptoms of mental retardation and autism in mice. The work also indicates that a certain class of drugs could have the same effect. These drugs are not yet approved by the FDA, but will soon be entering into human clinical trials.

[Science Daily]
Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices. The new version produces ten times the amount of electricity of existing Li-ion batteries. Using this technology, a laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for twenty hours.

[Telegraph.co.uk]
Is the universe running out of time?

[BBC News]
A probable active glacier has been identified for the first time on Mars.

[Dvice]
Norway builds super seed vault with room for 2.25 billion seeds.

[Treehugger]
Litroenergy is a new type of material that emits light for 12 years without needing electricity or sun exposure. The self-luminous micro-particles are called Litrospheres and are said to be non-toxic and inexpensive. The light is said to be equivalent to a 20 watt incandescent bulb. The litrospheres give off a continuous illumination, and can be designed to glow in any color. They can be injection molded or added to paint. Currently, the cost to light up a 8 ½ x 11 piece of plastic 1/8” thick is about .35 cents.

[Times Online]
The sexual preferences of fruit flies have been switched from gay to straight and back again with drugs and genetic engineering. Scientists in the US have found that a mutation in a gene known as "gender-blind," or GB, can make flies bisexual, and that manipulating its activity can switch this sexual trait on and off. The findings suggest that homosexuality has a clear biological basis, but that this is not necessarily hard-wired by the genes. A combination of genetic and environmental factors seems to be required. While the research does not necessarily have direct implications for humans, whose brain and nervous system are far more complex, it does show that changes in biology can directly affect sexual behaviour.

[Science Daily]
Specialists at Loyola University Health System are the first in the nation to use new ultrasound technology to guide ablation of atrial fibrillation, offering potential improvements in both the precision and safety of this therapy. With the newly installed software imaging technology, the CartoSound™ Image Integration Module and SoundStar™ 3D Catheter, Loyola physicians now are able to visualize and create a whole new kind of “map” of the heart in order to perform atrial ablation. They use ultrasound imaging to produce pictures of the heart during the ablation procedure. The ultrasound technique produces three-dimensional images of the heart’s anatomy within a few minutes at the bedside, and allows real-time, simultaneous monitoring of catheter position and orientation during the procedure, improving both precision and patient safety.

[The Age]
Two Hungarians puzzled by how certain creatures with shells, like turtles and beetles, are able to self-right have developed a shape with one stable and one unstable point of equilibrium to explain the phenomenon.

[EurekAlert!]
A new UC Davis study shows that a common antibacterial chemical added to bath soaps can alter hormonal activity in rats and in human cells in the laboratory—and does so by a previously unreported mechanism. The findings come as an increasing number of studies—of both lab animals and humans—are revealing that some synthetic chemicals in household products can cause health problems by interfering with normal hormone action.

[ScienceDaily]
Researchers may be able to develop an antidepressant which takes effect almost immediately by directly targeting novel molecules in the brain instead of taking a less direct route, which can lead to longer times for medication to take effect, according to a new study presented at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology annual meeting.

[The New York Times]
Bruce Schneier answers security-related questions on the Freakonomics blog.

[SciVee]
SciVee—a YouTube for scientific research.

[Salon.com]
The most groundbreaking science is being done outside academia and government. And Craig Venter is leading the way.

[EurekAlert!]
Young chimpanzees have an "extraordinary" ability to remember numerals that is superior to that of human adults, researchers report in the December 4th issue of Current Biology.

[ScienceDaily]
The biological pathway that powers sperm to swim long distances could be harnessed to nanotech devices, releasing drugs or performing mechanical functions inside the body, according to new research.

[BBC News]
Fossil hunters have uncovered the remains of a dinosaur that has much of its soft tissue still intact. Skin, muscle, tendons and other tissue that rarely survive fossilisation have all been preserved in the specimen unearthed in North Dakota.