New York, Dec 12: More than a third of women would dump their partner for giving an ''inadequate'' Christmas gift, reveals a new survey, which was conducted by British dating site freedating. co. uk.

According to the study, high on the list of prohibited presents are cooking utensils, cleaning products and a tape dispenser, reports the New York Daily News.

"It would make me rethink the person I am involved with," said Loiett Gore, of Weehawken, N. J., who once broke up with a guy who got her fake jewelry.

"It wasn''t the reason, but it did start a downward trend. Why give me something that could rub off?" Gore added.

Recent research has shown that presence of a specific gene can be linked to urge to eat high-calorie foods. Researchers found that children with a common variation of the gene ate 100 extra calories per meal.

New Delhi, Dec 12: Popstar Madonna is reportedly "intoxicated" with her alleged beau Alex Rodriguez - but is not sure her feelings will last.

The 50-year-old singer is yet to officially confirm that she is dating the baseball star, reports the China Daily.

"Alex and Madonna are very, very cosy. Yes, they are intimate, and they are intoxicated with one another. Alex can''t get over that he''s with Madonna," a source said.

London, Dec 12: Researchers at the University of Cambridge and the University of Cukurova in Turkey have found the key in the brain that controls the onset of puberty.

Scientists found that Neurokinin B plays a critical role in controlling the system that switches on the master regulator of human puberty.

Earlier, Neurokinin B was known to be present in the hypothalamus-the part of the brain that controls puberty.

But it''s now that its role is identified and scientists believe that the finding could lead to new treatments for sex hormone dependent diseases like prostate cancer, new approaches to contraception, and its manipulation could result in new treatments for children with delayed or abnormal puberty.

A recent research has shown connection between gene mutation and the most common eye cancer. Research team led by Catherine Van Raamsdonk, an assistant professor of medical genetics at the University of British Columbia has discovered a genetic mutation in a gene called GNAQ that could be responsible for up to 45 per cent cases of uveal melanoma.

Uveal melanoma is caused by unregulated growth of melanocytes which are also found in the skin and are cells linked to a life-threatening form of skin cancer. Researchers found that GNAQ regulates melanocyte survival.  

London, Dec 12 : The study of ancient corals has led a team of geologists to determine that another huge earthquake may hit the Sumatra region within the next few decades.

According to a report in Nature News, an analysis of fossilized coral beds in the region has revealed that the magnitude 8.4 and 7.9 quakes that hit the island in September
2007 could be harbingers of further, and potentially more destructive, ruptures.

Kerry Sieh, an earthquake geologist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, and his colleagues found evidence for recurring changes in the local sea level, which they attribute to tectonic plates shifting upwards and subsidence of the sea floor - sure signs of a quake.