Researchers have long known that at about 18 months children experience a vocabulary explosion, suddenly learning words at a much faster rate. They have theorized that complex mechanisms are behind the phenomenon. But new research suggests far simpler mechanisms may be at play: word repetition, variations in the difficulty of words, and the fact that children are learning multiple words at once.

Low-intensity electric fields can disrupt the division of cancer cells and slow the growth of brain tumors, suggest laboratory experiments and a small human trial, raising hopes that electric fields will become a new weapon for stalling the progression of cancer.

A new fingerprinting technique could potentially detect the diet, race and sex of a suspected criminal, according to new research. A strong trace of urea, a chemical found in urine, could indicate a male. Weak traces of urea in a chemical sample could indicate a female. Specific amino acids could potentially indicate whether the suspect was a vegetarian or meat-eater.

Clinicians currently lack advance warning of acute kidney injury for patients where kidney injury timing is unknown. Now pediatric research has identified a potential biomarker to predict acute kidney injury earlier than current tests, opening a vital window for prevention of this life-threatening condition.