NASA's Cassini spacecraft has revealed for the first time surface details of Saturn's moon Hyperion, including cup-like craters filled with hydrocarbons that may indicate more widespread presence in our solar system of basic chemicals necessary for life. Hyperion yielded some of its secrets to the battery of instruments aboard Cassini as the spacecraft flew close by in September 2005. Water and carbon dioxide ices were found, as well as dark material that fits the spectral profile of hydrocarbons.

Anybody who's tried to concentrate on work while suffering a headache knows that pain compellingly commands attention -- which is how evolution helped ensure survival in a painful world. Now, researchers have pinpointed the brain region responsible for pain's ability to affect cognitive processing. They have found that this pain-related brain region is distinct from the one involved in cognitive processing interference due to a distracting memory task.

In the vast majority of Parkinson's disease patients, the disorder arises not because of a genetic defect, but because some external insult triggers the death of dopamine-producing neurons. Now, researchers have reported progress in understanding the mechanism underlying that death, which they say suggests a new treatment pathway.

The strongest and fittest of a species might be expected to produce the best offspring, but this is not always the case, researchers have found. Studies of red deer suggest that the most successful males are more likely to produce less fertile daughters. Male and female deer need different attributes to succeed. Genes which prove to be an advantage in fathers don't necessarily prove beneficial in daughters.

Marine Ecoregions of the World, a new, biogeographic classification of regional and shelf waters, identifies 232 distinct ecoregions. The hierarchical scheme aims to aid research and marine conservation.

Psychologists have identified an "early warning signal" in the brain that helps us avoid repeating previous mistakes. Their research identifies, for the first time, a mechanism in the brain that reacts in just 0.1 seconds to things that have resulted in us making errors in the past.

In the last 40 years, scientists have perfected ways to determine the knot-like structure of enzymes, but they've been stumped trying to translate the structure into an understanding of function -- what the enzyme actually does in the body. This puzzle has hurt drug discovery, since many of the most successful drugs work by blocking enzyme action. Now researchers show that a solution to the puzzle is finally in sight.