I have culled these most recent scientific finds as being the most significant from EurekAlert!'s Breaking News.

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Public Release: 23-Sep-2006
Geology
Dinosaurs' climate shifted too, reports show
Ancient rocks from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean suggest dramatic climate changes during the dinosaur-dominated Mesozoic Era, a time once thought to have been monotonously hot and humid.
National Science Foundation, Geological Society of America

Public Release: 22-Sep-2006
2006 General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union
Astrophysical Journal
Hubble finds hundreds of young galaxies in the early universe
Astronomers analysing two of the deepest views of the cosmos made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered a gold mine of galaxies, more than 500, that existed less than a thousand million years after the Big Bang.

Public Release: 22-Sep-2006
Paleobiology
Ancient birds flew on all-fours
The earliest known ancestor of modern-day birds took to the skies by gliding from trees using primitive feathered wings on their arms and legs, according to new research by a University of Calgary paleontologist. In a paper published in the journal Paleobiology, Department of Biological Sciences Ph.D. student Nick Longrich challenges the idea that birds began flying by taking off from the ground while running and shows that the dinosaur-like bird Archaeopteryx soared using wing-like feathers on all of its limbs.

Public Release: 21-Sep-2006
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Lucky find off Galapagos
During a research expedition off South America, scientists discover widespread ethane and propane produced by microorganisms in deeply-buried sediments. Their findings on the production of energy-laden gases appear in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings suggest that microbes in the ecosystem below the seafloor carry out hitherto unrecognized processes, relevant to both our understanding of global element cycles and the metabolic abilities of Earth's microbial biosphere.

Public Release: 21-Sep-2006
Nature
Meet the earliest baby girl ever discovered
The find of an australopithecus afarensis child will help to answer important questions concerning human evolution.

Public Release: 20-Sep-2006
Nature Immunology
Killer' B cells demonstrate evolutionary link between fish and mammal immune systems
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have discovered a unique evolutionary link between the immune systems of fish and mammals in the form of a primitive version of B cells, white blood cells of the immune system. Unlike mammalian B cells, which produce antibodies, these "killer" B cells actually ingest foreign particles and microbes. The finding represents a sizeable evolutionary step and offers a potential strategy for developing needed fish vaccines.
National Science Foundation, US Department of Agriculture

Public Release: 20-Sep-2006
Biology Letters
Squid skin reveals hidden messages
In research published today in the journal Biology Letters, MBL (Marine Biological Laboratory) researchers Lydia Mäthger and Roger Hanlon present evidence that the polarized aspect of the skin of the longfin inshore squid, Loligo pealeii, is maintained after passing through the pigment cells responsible for camouflage.

Public Release: 20-Sep-2006
Earth's most diverse marine life found off Indonesia's Papua Province
Two recent expeditions led by Conservation International (CI) to the heart of Asia's "Coral Triangle" discovered dozens of new species of marine life including epaulette sharks, "flasher" wrasse and reef-building coral, confirming the region as the Earth's richest seascape.
Conservation International

Public Release: 20-Sep-2006
Neuron
Emotional control circuit of brain's fear response discovered
Columbia University Medical Center researchers have identified the neurocircuit that controls the brain's response to fear. Results suggest that it may be possible to understand psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety or depression, from the underlying neurophysiology -- workings of the brain.

Public Release: 20-Sep-2006
Neuron
How the brain keeps emotions at bay
Daily life requires that people cope with distracting emotions -- from the basketball player who must make a crucial shot amidst a screaming crowd, to a salesman under pressure delivering an important pitch to a client. Researchers have now discovered that the brain is able to prevent emotions from interfering with mental functioning by having a specific "executive processing" area of the cortex inhibit activity of the emotion-processing region.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Kavli Institute for Brain Sciences, Neurobiology and Behavior Research Training Program

Public Release: 19-Sep-2006
Scientists discover new ring and other features at Saturn
Saturn sports a new ring in an image taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Sunday, Sept. 17, during a one-of-a-kind observation. Other spectacular sights captured by Cassini's cameras include wispy fingers of icy material stretching out tens of thousands of kilometers from the active moon, Enceladus, and a cameo color appearance by planet Earth.

Public Release: 19-Sep-2006
Optics Express
Breakthrough in computer chip design eliminates wires in data transmission
Research slated to appear in the Oct. 2 edition of the Optical Society of America's Optics Express will unveil that researchers have created a new laser-silicon hybrid computer chip that can produce laser beams that will make it possible to use laser light rather than wires to send data between chips, removing the most significant bottleneck in computer design.

Public Release: 19-Sep-2006
Current Biology
UCI scientists discover a new healthy role for fat
Too much body fat may be a bad thing, but there is increasing evidence that too little fat also may have some surprisingly negative consequences.

Public Release: 19-Sep-2006
American Journal of Epidemiology
Same mortality but higher suicide rate among women with breast implants
A study conducted among 24,600 women by two Université Laval Faculty of Medicine researchers and their colleagues from the Canadian Public Health Agency and Cancer Care Ontario concludes that having breast implants does not increase mortality risk. However, the study reveals that the suicide rate among women with breast implants is 73 percent higher than in the general population.

Public Release: 19-Sep-2006
Brain
First evidence that musical training affects brain development in young children
Researchers have found the first evidence that young children who take music lessons show different brain development and improved memory over the course of a year compared to children who do not receive musical training, according to research published in the journal Brain.
International Foundation for Music Research, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Sound Technology Promotion Foundation

Public Release: 18-Sep-2006
Astrophysical Journal
Scientists snap images of first brown dwarf in planetary system
Scientists using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have discovered and directly imaged a small brown dwarf star, 50 times the mass of Jupiter, orbiting with a planet around a sun-like star. Such an arrangement has never before been seen but might be common, the scientists say, leading to solar systems with distorted planetary orbits.
NASA, Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council of the UK, Italian Space Agency

Public Release: 18-Sep-2006
Current Biology
Brain's action center is all talk
Areas in the premotor cortex involved in specific actions (kicking, biting, etc.) are also active when subjects hear descriptions of those actions. The first direct comparison of action and language in specific motor areas, this study supports the thesis that meaning is "embodied" rather than segregated in a separate area of the brain.
National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation

Public Release: 18-Sep-2006
Current Biology
Mirrors in the mind: New studies elucidate how the brain reflects onto itself the actions of others
In three new independent studies, researchers have deepened our understanding of the remarkable ability of some specialized areas of the brain to activate both in response to one's own actions and in response to sensory cues, such as sight, of the same actions perpetrated by another individual. This ability is thought to be based in the activity of so-called mirror neurons, which have been hypothesized to contribute to skills such as empathy, socialized behavior and language acquisition.
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Oderzoek vidi, Brain Mapping Medical Research Organization