Troy, NY, USA. When just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of the society.

Scientists used computational and analytical methods to discover the tipping point where a minority belief becomes the majority opinion. The finding has implications for the study and influence of societal interactions ranging from the spread of innovations to the movement of political ideals.

New York, NY, USA. A new fluorescent tool can track the largely unknown workings of cellular RNA in its various forms, paralleling a technique that had previously revolutionized the understanding of protein biology.

Investigators from Weill Cornell Medical College report in the journal Science how they developed an RNA mimic of green fluorescent protein (GFP) and describe how it will help unlock the secrets of the complex ways that RNA sustains human life as well as contributes to disease.

Pasadena, CA, USA. New optical imaging of live biological samples can simultaneously achieve high resolution, high penetration depth (for seeing deep inside samples), and high imaging speed.

High-quality, three-dimensional (3D) image capture of living tissues or organisms in real-time is essential to problem solving in areas that range from genomics to neurobiology and developmental biology.

Chevy Chase, MD, USA. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the Max Planck Society, and the Wellcome Trust have pledged their support for the creation of a new top-tier and open access journal for biomedical and life sciences research.

The sponsors have selected Randy Schekman as the first editor. He is a distinguished cell biologist and served as the 14th editor of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Berkeley, CA, USA. Scientists have recovered sound from an artifact that historians believe is the earliest surviving talking doll record, a ring-shaped cylinder phonograph record made of solid metal, preserved by the National Park Service at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park.

Phonograph inventor Thomas Edison made the record during the fall or winter of 1888 in West Orange, New Jersey.