Washington, Feb 11: With Valentine's Day just round the corner, a new US survey has taken the opportunity to answer a question that has left many people puzzled: what do people find most attractive in others?

Well, the answer is: smile.

According to a survey from the American Dental Association and Crest and Oral B, the smile outranks eyes, hair and the body when it comes to the most attractive physical feature.

Washington, Feb 11: Canadian researchers have developed a new technique that uses infrared light brain imaging to decode a person's preference.

The tool might ultimately open the world of choice to children who can''t speak or move.

In a study Bloorview scientists demonstrated the ability to decode a person''s preference for one of two drinks with 80 per cent accuracy by measuring the intensity of near-infrared light absorbed in brain tissue.

"This is the first system that decodes preference naturally from spontaneous thoughts," said Sheena Luu, the University of Toronto PhD student in biomedical engineering who led the study under the supervision of Tom Chau, Canada Research Chair in pediatric rehab engineering.

Washington, Feb 11 : Eight people have been arrested in connection to Olympic golden boy Michael Phelps's pot puffing scandal.

According to WIS-TV, Richland County Sheriff''s Department has taken seven suspects in custody for possessing marijuana and the one for dealing in it.

One person is suspected to be the owner of the bong - who wasn''t present at the party, but was allegedly trying to sell the pipe on eBay for 100,000 dollars, reports Fox News.

Washington, Feb 11 (ANI): Music lessons taken in or out of school can significantly improve reading and mathematic achievement in early childhood and adolescence, according to a new study.

Darby E. Southgate, MA, and Vincent Roscigno, Ph. D., of The Ohio State University have found music participation and parents attending concerts with their children have positive impact on adolescents' academic performance.

During the study, the researchers analysed the patterns of music involvement and possible effects on math and reading performance for both elementary and high school students.

They found that music is positively associated with academic achievement, especially during the high school years.

Washington, Feb 11 : Scientists have used a computer simulation to come up with images that show the formation of the first big galaxies in the Universe, which is literally the `cosmic dawn'.

The images, produced by scientists at Durham University's Institute for Computational Cosmology, predict what the very early Universe would have appeared like 500 million years after the Big Bang.

The Cosmic Dawn began as galaxies began to form out of the debris of massive stars which died explosively shortly after the beginning of the Universe.

The Durham calculation predicts where these galaxies appear and how they evolve to the present day, over 13 billion years later.

Washington, Feb 11: A new study has suggested that Olympus Mons, the biggest volcano on Mars, could shelter some sort of life form.

Rising three times higher than Mount Everest, Olympus Mons was active at least 40 million years ago, and perhaps more recently.

Magma may still be close enough to the surface to support heat-loving bacteria like those found near hydrothermal vents on Earth.

But, bacteria likely need water to live in, too.

Now, according to a report in Discovery News, Patrick McGovern and Julia Morgan think they may have found it, locked in thick layers of clay-rich sediments beneath the mountain.