The Sierra Club and Environment Texas brought the lawsuit in December under a provision of the Clean Air Act that allows private individuals to seek enforcement of federal pollution standards when the federal agency fails to do so.

"Congress specifically allowed for citizen enforcement suits because sometimes government agencies fall down on the job, and this case is a perfect example of that," said Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas.

Citing notices filed by Exxon with state and federal regulators, the groups said the Baytown refinery and adjoining chemical plant have released more than 8 million pounds (3.6million kilograms) of pollutants in the last five years beyond the levels permitted under the Clean Air Act.

British scientists have managed to transform a type of stem-like cell in adult mouse hearts into functioning heart muscle in research proving that the heart has dormant repair cells that can be reactivated.

Although the research has yet to be translated into humans and is in its very early stages, the results suggest that in the future, a drug could be developed to prompt and prime hearts damaged by cardiac arrest into repairing themselves.
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Riley's team, whose study was published in the journal Nature Wednesday, targeted particular cells found in the outer layer of the heart, called the epicardium.

These cells, referred to as epicardium-derived progenitor cells (EPDCs), are known to be able to transform into a number of specialist cells, including heart muscle, in developing embryos.

Scientists had previously thought EPDCs' ability to transform was lost in adulthood, but in this study Riley's team found that by treating the healthy hearts of adult mice with a molecule called thymosin beta 4, they were able to "prime" the heart to repair itself after damage.

The MIT News Office reported that the new architecture suspends the active electrical components of a battery, such as positive and negative electrodes, as particles in a liquid. This black electric sludge, which resembles petroleum, has been dubbed "Cambridge crude" by its inventors.

The new design, called a "semi-solid flow cell," could allow electric vehicles to refuel by pumping the used electric sludge out and replacing it with fully charged electric sludge. Researchers say the new battery design should also make it possible to reduce the size and the cost of a complete battery system, making electric cars more competitive with contemporary gas-powered cars.

An Argentine laboratory announced that it had created the world's first transgenic cow, using human genes that will allow the animal to produce the equivalent of mothers' milk.

"The cloned cow, named Rosita ISA, is the first bovine born in the world that incorporates human genes that contain the proteins present in human milk," Argentina's National Institute of Agrobusiness Technology said in a statement on Thursday.
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"Our goal was to raise the nutritional value of cows' milk by adding two human genes, the protein lactoferrin, which provides infants with anti-bacterial and anti-viral protection, and lysozyme, which is also an anti-bacterial agent," said researcher Adrian Mutto at a press conference.