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A latest study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has suggested that couples planning to have a baby should avoid caffeine as it has been linked to elevated chances of miscarriage.

As per the study published today (March 24) in the journal Fertility and Sterility, for women intake of over two caffeinated drinks everyday prior to conceiving was linked to a 74% higher miscarriage risk.

The study mentioned that the caffeine consumption by women only wasn't the sole factor as in couples wherein the male partner consumed over two caffeinated beverages per day prior to conception there was a 73% elevated risk of a miscarriage.

On Thursday, a new case of Zika virus was confirmed in Nevada. A Clark County resident, who recently visited Central America as per state and local health authorities, has been found positive for Zika virus infection.

Southern Nevada Health District medical epidemiologist Tony Fredrick said that the local man had travelled to Guatemala. He tested positive for the virus after he fell ill around February 10 while he was on the trip.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is planning to spend nearly $4 million to clean, repair and upgrade the Oregon wildlife refuge. Earlier this year, the refuge was the place of a 41-day armed occupation by ranchers.

The Oregonian reported that Dan Ashe, Fish and Wildlife Director, said that his motive is to make the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Burns a symbol for the rest of the nation, indicating that it is collaboration that endures, and not confrontation.

Earlier this week, similar statements were made by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell when she paid a visit to the refuge.

Federal officials shared pictures of the refuge showing that the ranchers left a mess within the building.

On Wednesday, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who also owns the Seattle Seahawks, promised $100 million funding for cutting-edge life sciences study. As per a news release from the Allen Institute, the gift has signified his initial pledge in the direction of a decade-long plan for The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group, a latest Seattle-based organization launched by him on Wednesday.

The initial projects of the organization include $20 million funding for eight years of research endeavors at Stanford University and Tufts University, and under the ‘research partnership’, universities will contribute $10 million each.

Researchers have found a blind cavefish that walks up waterfalls. In a study published in Scientific Reports, they said the fish, Cryptotora thamicola, is incredibly rare due to its walk, which seems like a four-legged animal’s saunter.

The fish is a blind cavefish, but what make it unique are its morphological features. These were previously seen in four-footed mammals and amphibians, said Brooke E. Flammang, a researcher from the Jersey Institute of Technology and an author of the study. Cryptotora thamicola’s pelvis and vertebral column allow it to support its body weight against gravity, the author added.

A team of scientists has claimed that they have developed a bacterium with the smallest number of genes required to have life. Now, they hope the research could be used to create designer life forms.

The newly created bacterium has 473 genes. The creators from the J. Craig Venter Institute in California have no idea what action more than 30% genes of the bacterium actually perform. However, they say these genes are important and the microbe could even die without them.

These genes act as key elements, and the team is trying to figure out what they do, and they are very close, said J. Craig Venter, founder of the institute in California.