Washington, Mar 23 : Scientists, co-led by an Indian-origin researcher, have identified 10 genes associated with sudden cardiac death (SCD), which is usually caused by irregular heart rhythms.

Goncalo Abecasis, associate professor of Biostatistics at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, says that scientists are now closer to understanding what causes SCD and who may be its victim.

Abecasis co-led the study with Aravinda Chakravarti of Johns Hopkins to identify genetic defects associated with sudden cardiac death.

Washington, March 23 : NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has identified a star that was one million times brighter than the Sun before it exploded as a supernova in 2005.

According to current theories of stellar evolution, the star should not have self-destructed so early in its life.

"This might mean that we are fundamentally wrong about the evolution of massive stars, and that theories need revising," said Avishay Gal-Yam of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.

Washington, Mar 23 : Researchers in Canada have found that proteins from a common garden pea could be used as a food additive or new dietary supplement to fight high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Researchers said that the study is the first to report that a natural food product can relieve symptoms of CKD.

Washington, Mar. 23 : While the political leadership in Pakistan is making an effort to reconcile and stabilise the country, the United States still feels that danger looms large over the country collapsing completely within the next six months.

The top Advisor to the US Central Command (CENTCOM), David Kilcullen has expressed serious concern over the rising extremism in Pakistan, and said that it could prove detrimental to the world peace.

London, March 23: A compound used by TV show detectives to make blood glow, known as luminol, is now being used by scientists to highlight the sites where the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that injected luminol glows blue at sites of active immune inflammation in living mice.

The researchers say that this glow can be detected from outside the mice with the aid of scientific cameras.

Washington - US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner plans to unveil later Monday details of a public-private investment programme that will mop up toxic assets and build new capital for banks to help recover from the financial crisis.

Anticipation of the announcement already sent Asian markets on the upswing as they opened Monday morning.

Geithner is expected to provide many of the details that investors were looking for when he gave the broad outline of the Obama administration's rescue plan some weeks ago.