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One may not expect dead remains of an animal as old as ice age to appear in a university stadium. Perhaps, this happened in the Oregon State University’s football stadium, the bones of mammoth and other ancient animals were discovered by some construction workers while working. The incident soon lured the interested students and professors towards the site, who ultimately took the responsibility of safely sorting out the bones from soil, leading the construction workers to shift their construction work elsewhere for short duration.

A telecommunications laser satellite was launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on January 30, 2016. The satellite will collect data from Earth observation satellites, drones and the International Space Station through lasers, and will immediately transmit it to sensors installed on Earth. The launch was carried out under a project called European Data Relay System (EDRS). The data-transfer satellite is the first of the many such satellites that are scheduled to be launched during the coming years.

The supporters of medical marijuana were overjoyed after ex Chicago Bears quarterbacks Jim McMahon provided his celebrity backing to their cause this week.

There was a Tribune photo of McMahon puffing away on pot when he went to Chicago from out of state, but anybody looking forward to travel with marijuana must be warned that it is risky.

Marijuana transportation across state lines is still a federal offense, despite state laws or the drug being legally acquired. The US Transportation Security Administration has mentioned on its website that its officer don’t look for marijuana or other drugs, but in case any such thing is found, they would refer the issue to local law enforcement.

The results from a huge gene-focused research effort have suggested that schizophrenia could be associated with a gene that instructs the immune system to destroy too many connections in the brain.

Harvard University and the Broad Institute scientists analyzed the genomes of 64,785 people worldwide and discovered that the one suffering from the debilitating psychiatric disease has quite more chances of possessing mutations of a common gene, as per the results appeared in the journal Nature on Wednesday.

Over 21 million people suffer with schizophrenia worldwide, and tend to have less gray matter and lesser connections in their brain as compared to healthy peers.

The US health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers are hopeful that the launch of Merck & Co Inc's new hepatitis C pill will improve their influence in price negotiations with drugmakers.

On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration approved Merck's Zepatier for treatment of patients suffering from the most common type of the liver-destroying virus, genotype 1, and the less common genotype 4.

The new drug’s list price is $54,600 for a 12-week regimen in comparison to $94,500 for Gilead Sciences Inc's Harvoni. AbbVie Inc’s multi-pill regimen, Viekira Pak, has a list price of around $83,000.

The Annals of Internal Medicine journal has published two studies to tell people what risks or benefits breast cancer-screening strategies can have. The pair of studies also throws light on biannual breast cancer screening recommendation by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).

Digital mammography has been rated safe by the studies. This specialized form of mammography is secure, but it may pose radiation-associated breast cancer risk for some women. A comprehensive modeling study featured in the journal also stated that screening mammography is an effective way to protect women from deaths from this form of cancer.