Washington, April 29 : Researchers at Saint Louis University have found that a topical cream when used together with surgery may help treat melanoma, potentially helping doctors cut less.

Researchers examined two cases of the most common type of melanoma of the head and neck, lentigo maligna (LM), a type of "melanoma-in- situ", the earliest stage of melanoma.

Washington, April 29 : Australian plant scientists have revealed that plants use a genetic memory to recognize when it is spring and can even count the number of cold days.

According to a report by ABC News, in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, researchers show how winter cereal crops recognize when it is time to start flowering.

Melbourne, April 29 : Drinking out of water bottles made from PET plastic may pose a human health risk, reveals a new study.

According to lead researcher Martin Wagner, Goethe University, Frankfurt, a questionable finger could be raised on the safety of the PET plastic water bottles.

The study found that estrogenic compounds trickle into the water in bottles made from PET (polyethylene terephthalate).

And some yet-to-be-identified chemicals in these plastics seemed to have the potential to meddle with estrogen and other reproductive hormones.

Washington, Apr 29 : US researchers claim that a brain protein involved in fear behavior and anxiety may represent a new target for depression therapies.

The study, by researchers at the University of Iowa and the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center, has appeared in the April 29 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

Depression can be severely disabling. However, the causes of depression are not well understood.

Washington, April 29 : NASA has developed a flash on-line game about telescopes, featuring its next-generation spacecraft, the James Webb Space Telescope.

The game, called "Scope it Out!" includes an introduction to telescopes and four matching games where you can compare simple telescopes to both Webb and the Hubble Space Telescope.

It was created at NASA Goddard by Maggie Masetti, with Dr. Anita Krishnamurthi providing oversight on the project.

London, April 29 : Two new studies have suggested that exoplanets which venture near their host stars are doomed to premature deaths - even before they get close enough to be ripped apart by the stars' gravity.

According to a report in New Scientist, the studies say that a star's gravity can put a nearby planet on a `fast track' to spiralling into the star and may also cause the planet to lose much of its atmosphere.