My picks from ScienceDaily

Red Pepper: Hot Stuff For Fighting Fat?:

Food scientists in Taiwan are reporting new evidence from laboratory experiments that capsaicin -- the natural compound that gives red pepper that spicy hot kick -- can reduce the growth of fat cells. The study is scheduled for the March 21 issue of the ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication.

Spiders: Chastity Belts Protect Paternity:

The fact that female wasp spiders have numerous sexual contacts is something which their male partners cannot prevent. What they can do, however, is ensure that no offspring ensue from these tête à têtes with their rivals: the male spiders simply place a chastity belt on their partner while copulating. The tip of their genital breaks off during intercourse, blocking the sexual orifice of the lady spider. Biologists from the universities of Bonn and Hamburg report on this amazing mechanism in the journal 'Behavioral Ecology' (vol. 18, pages 174-181, 2007).

In Iran, Cheetahs Collared For The First Time; Critically Endangered Animals To Be Tracked By Scientists:

An international team of scientists led by the Wildlife Conservation Society working in Iran has successfully fitted two Asiatic cheetahs with Global Positioning System (GPS) collars, marking the first time this highly endangered population of big cats can be tracked by conservationists. Once found throughout the continent, Asiatic cheetahs now live only in extremely arid habitat on the edges of Iran's Kavir Desert. WCS's government partner in Iran, the Department of Environment/CACP project estimates their remaining numbers between 60 and 100 animals, making the Asiatic cheetah one of the most imperiled cats on earth.

Corals That Can Fight Global Warming May One Day Help Fragile Reefs:

While humans can survive large temperature fluctuations, such species as corals are only comfortable within a 12-degree temperature range. And rising global temperatures appear to be threatening their survival, according to Drew Harvell, Cornell professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.

Teenagers With Retail, Service Jobs At Risk Of Injury, Robberies, Sleep Deprivation:

Despite federal regulations intended to protect them, many teenagers in the U.S. use dangerous equipment or work long hours during the school week, according to a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study. The national study was based on telephone surveys of 928 teenaged workers, 14 to 18 years old. The results show 52 percent of males and 43 percent of females use dangerous equipment such a box crushers and slicers, or serve and sell alcohol where it is consumed, despite federal child labor laws prohibiting these practices.

Neurons That Detect Motion Rapidly Switch Between Modes Of Data Collection:

Form does follow function, as far as visual cortex neurons tasked with perceiving action are concerned. Far from being the static nerve cells researchers believed them to be, capable of performing only a single function, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies found these neurons rapidly shift back and forth between two ways of collecting information about moving objects.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Increasingly Associated With Cardiovascular Disease:

Cardiovascular disease can pose a threat to both men and women. While a diet rich in fat and high in cholesterol as well as lack of exercise can contribute to cardiovascular disease, a study published in the March 1st issue of the journal SLEEP finds that people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are at an increased risk of having cardiovascular disease.

Scientists Explain Inception Of Perception In The Brain:

The taste of champagne, the sound of a train, the flash of a pop fly into left field - indeed all of human perception - begins in the brain's center. That's where sensory information passes from the thalamus to the neocortex for processing. That critical transfer is a bit of a brain science mystery: Instead of reacting to information from the thalamus with a burst of excitatory chatter, most cortical cells are quickly and strongly inhibited or silenced. Why does that happen? In new work published in Nature Neuroscience, Brown University and University of California-Davis researchers provide the surprising answer.

Link Found Between Teens' Stress Levels And Acne Severity:

The largest study ever conducted on acne and stress reveals that teenagers who were under high levels of stress were 23 percent more likely to have increased acne severity, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and colleagues.