My picks from ScienceDaily

It's All In The Hips: Early Whales Used Well Developed Back Legs For Swimming, Fossils Show:

The crashing of the enormous fluked tail on the surface of the ocean is a "calling card" of modern whales. Living whales have no back legs, and their front legs take the form of flippers that allow them to steer. Their special tails provide the powerful thrust necessary to move their huge bulk. Yet this has not always been the case.

Researchers Suppress 'Hunger Hormone' In Pigs: New Minimally Invasive Method Yields Result As Good As Bariatric Surgery:

Johns Hopkins scientists report success in significantly suppressing levels of the "hunger hormone" ghrelin in pigs using a minimally invasive means of chemically vaporizing the main vessel carrying blood to the top section, or fundus, of the stomach. An estimated 90 percent of the body's ghrelin originates in the fundus, which can't make the hormone without a good blood supply.

Report Offers Advice To McCain, Obama On Science And Technology Appointments:

The importance of research in solving many of our national challenges, including economic ones, is emphasized in a new report titled Science and Technology for America's Progress: Ensuring the Best Presidential Appointments in the New Administration.

Signals From Blood Of Mother Enhance Maturation Of Brain:

The maturation of the brain of unborn infants is given a gentle "prod" by its mother. A protein messenger from the mother's blood is transferred to the embryo and stimulates the growth and wiring of the neurons in the brain.

Almost 7 Million Pregnant In Sub-Saharan Africa Infected With Hookworms:

A study published in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases reveals that between a quarter and a third of pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa, or almost 7 million, are infected with hookworms and at increased risk of developing anaemia.

Blanket Ban On Bushmeat Could Be Disastrous For Forest Dwellers In Central Africa, Says New Report:

A new report from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CDB) and partners warns that an upsurge in hunting bushmeat--including mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians -- in tropical forests is unsustainable and that it poses serious threats to food security for poor inhabitants of forests in Africa, who rely largely on bushmeat for protein.

Criminals Who Eat Processed Foods More Likely To Be Discovered, Through Fingerprint Sweat Corroding Metal:

The inventor of a revolutionary new forensic fingerprinting technique claims criminals who eat processed foods are more likely to be discovered by police through their fingerprint sweat corroding metal.

Scientists Behind 'Doomsday Seed Vault' Ready World's Crops For Climate Change:

As climate change is credited as one of the main drivers behind soaring food prices, the Global Crop Diversity Trust is undertaking a major effort to search crop collections--from Azerbaijan to Nigeria--for the traits that could arm agriculture against the impact of future changes. Traits, such as drought resistance in wheat, or salinity tolerance in potato, will become essential as crops around the world have to adapt to new climate conditions.

The Greening Of Sub-Saharan Africa:

The green revolution that has led to food being far more abundant now than forty years ago in South America and Asia has all-but bypasses Sub-Saharan Africa as that region's population trebled over that time period.