Washington, Apr 16: President Barack Obama has received an unusual tribute from a UC Riverside researcher - he has named a new species of lichen after him.

Kerry Knudsen, the lichen curator in the UCR Herbarium, has discovered a new species of lichen - a plant-like growth that looks like moss or a dry leaf - and has named it after the president to show his appreciation for Obama's support of science and science education.

"I discovered the new species in 2007 while doing a survey for lichen diversity on Santa Rosa Island in California," said Knudsen.

Washington, April 16 : A new study has linked prenatal exposure to the Hong Kong Flu, which claimed more than 700,000 deaths worldwide in the late 1960s, to reduced intelligence in adulthood.

Writing about the study, Dr. Willy Eriksen of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health has revealed that it involved records of more than 180,000 men born between 1967 and 1973 who served in the military.

Washington, April 16 : Scientists at the University of North Carolina Kidney Center have come up with an explanation as to why American Indians at a greater risk of developing proteinuria - a condition that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease (CKD) - than other groups.

Dr. Amy Mottl and her colleagues say that these differences exist as genetic variation likely accounts for part of their increased risks.

Washington  - US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle reported income of more than 2.6 million dollars in 2008, documents released by the White House showed Wednesday.

The vast majority of the 2,656,902 million dollars reported by the Obama's came from proceeds from the president's book sales, the White House said. The couple paid 855,323 dollars in federal income tax and 77,883 in Illinois state income tax.

The Obama's donated 172,050 dollars to charity.

Los Angeles - US comedian Steven Colbert is heading to space, or at least his name is.

The star, who plays a pompous news commentator on Comedy Central's Colbert Report, had organized fans to vote for him in a NASA competition to name a module on the International Space Station.