Science Briefing

Ancestry in Asia?

Fossils recently found in Myanmar could prove that the common ancestors of humans, monkeys and apes evolved from primates in Asia, rather than Africa, researchers say.

The pieces of 38-million-year-old jawbones and teeth found in 2005 show typical characteristics of primates, the researchers who found the fossils pointed out.

Other scientists say it's too early to draw such conclusions.

The findings were published Wednesday in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a London-based journal.

Crucial sea grass meadows decline

The world's sea grass meadows, a critical habitat for marine life and a profit-maker for the fishing industry, are in decline due to coastal development and the losses are accelerating, research has found.

Billed as the first comprehensive global assessment of sea grass losses, the study found that 58% of sea grass meadows were declining and that the rate of annual loss had accelerated from about 1% per year before 1940 to 7% per year since 1990.

The findings were published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Schizophrenia's genetic puzzle

Common variations in genes may underlie schizophrenia, the mental illness known for more than 100 years to run in families, with no one single variation conferring the majority of risk, three new studies show.

The research suggests that schizophrenia doesn't have a single genetic cause, but is like a massive jigsaw puzzle to which researchers have found just found a few end pieces, said Dr. Thomas R. Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health. The papers were published Thursday in the journal Nature.

Brain device may aid cerebral palsy

Zapping the brain with a mild electrical current appears to help patients with a difficult-to-treat form of cerebral palsy, French researchers said Wednesday.

Patients in the study were implanted with pacemaker-like devices known as deep-brain stimulators made by Medtronic Inc., which helped fund the study.

After a year, eight out of the 13 people had improvements in motor symptoms, the researchers reported in Lancet Neurology.

-- From Times staff and wire reports