Estrogen may ease schizophrenia symptoms

Researchers started focusing on estrogen's links to schizophrenia about two decades ago when it became clear that female patients typically fell ill an average of about five years after males. Symptoms also tend to worsen after childbirth and menopause when estrogen levels are lower, and ease during menstruation and pregnancy when hormone levels are high.

In the study, 56 women given an estrogen patch in addition to standard medications for one month had significantly fewer psychotic symptoms, including hallucinations, delusions and movement disorders, than the 46 women getting a placebo patch.

Scientists test fetuses found in King Tut's tomb

Egyptian scientists are carrying out DNA tests on two mummified fetuses found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun to determine whether they are the young pharaoh's offspring, the antiquities authority said Wednesday.

The two tiny female fetuses, between five and seven months in gestational age, were found in King Tut's tomb in Luxor when it was discovered in 1922.

DNA samples from the fetuses "will be compared to each other, along with those of the mummy of King Tutankhamun," the head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, said in a statement.

Lowland gorillas found in Republic of Congo

Wildlife researchers said Tuesday that they've discovered 125,000 western lowland gorillas deep in the forests of the Republic of Congo, calling it a major increase in the animal's estimated population.

The Wildlife Conservation Society, based at New York's Bronx Zoo, and the Republic of Congo said their census counted the newly discovered gorillas in two areas of the northern part of the country covering 18,000 square miles.

Previous estimates, dating to the 1980s, put the number of western lowland gorillas at less than 100,000. But the animal's numbers were believed to have fallen by at least 50% since then due to hunting and disease, researchers said. The newly discovered gorilla population now puts their estimated numbers at between 175,000 and 225,000.

Virus infects other virus

Even viruses can suffer a viral infection, French scientists reported on Thursday in the journal Nature in a discovery that may help explain how they swap genes and evolve so rapidly.