A 60-million-year-old relative of crocodiles was likely a food source for Titanoboa, the largest snake the world has ever known. Paleontologists found fossils of the new species of ancient crocodile in the Cerrejon Formation in northern Colombia. The site, one of the world's largest open-pit coal mines, also yielded skeletons of the giant, boa constrictor-like Titanoboa, which measured up to 45 feet long.

Severe muscle injuries -- such as crush injuries suffered in earthquakes, car accidents and explosions, and muscle damage from excessive exercise or statin drug interactions -- can cause life-threatening kidney damage. Treatment has been limited to intravenous fluids and dialysis, but a new study suggests that the commonly used pain reliever acetaminophen may protect the kidneys from damage.

Just as cooking helps people digest food, pretreating polycarbonate plastic -- source of a huge environmental headache because of its bisphenol A content -- may be the key to disposing of the waste in an eco-friendly way, scientists have found.

New research finds that quitting smoking after a heart attack has about the same positive effect as other major interventions such as lipid-lowering agents like statins or more invasive procedures.

Pyrethroid pesticides were supposed to be a benign replacement for organophosphates used around the home, but a new study shows that these insecticides are showing up at toxic levels in storm runoff and even in the effluent from sewage treatment plants. While the levels are not high enough to harm fish, they may be enough to kill the mayfly, caddisfly and stonefly larvae upon which the fish feed.

Potentially beneficial brain changes (an increase in the volume of an area known as the hippocampus) occur in response to exercise both in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls, according to a report. The findings suggest that the brain retains some plasticity, or ability to adapt, even in those with psychotic disorders.

Groundbreaking research led by a leading horse genomics scientist in Ireland has resulted in the identification of the 'speed gene' in thoroughbred horses.

Ballooning weight, irregular periods and trouble getting pregnant are red flags for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). It's a serious metabolic disorder and one of the major causes of hormonally related infertility -- affecting about 5 million women in the US. But the disorder remains largely undiagnosed and unknown. The complex genetic disease has long-term health risks throughout a woman's lifespan, including obesity, diabetes and heart disease. New research shows men are also affected.

More and more Americans are turning to herbal remedies to help manage chronic conditions or promote general health and wellness. But many of today's popular herbal supplements, including St. John's wort, gingko biloba, garlic and even grapefruit juice can pose serious risks to people who are taking medications for heart disease, according to a review article.

Physicists have demonstrated the first "universal" programmable quantum information processor able to run any program allowed by quantum mechanics -- the rules governing the submicroscopic world -- using two quantum bits (qubits) of information. The processor could be a module in a future quantum computer, which theoretically could solve some important problems that are intractable today.