News in Brief
- Earth
Wet terrain responsible for Iceland’s hollow lava towers
Normally found underwater, the rocky structures form on land too.
- Health & Medicine
Evidence mounts for bat origins of SARS
New viruses in the mammals closely match the human form of the infection.
- Astronomy
An Earth-sized hell circles faraway star
Kepler-78b, an Earth-sized, extremely hot exoplanet made of rock and iron, is the smallest with known diameter and mass.
- Health & Medicine
Antibodies show progress against HIV
Proteins suppress disease in monkeys, but don’t cure it.
- Genetics
Genetic variants may keep Siberians warm
People in frigid cold evolved changes in fat metabolism, shivering.
- Environment
Mercury contamination in California to last 10,000 years
Toxic remnants of gold rush will seep into San Francisco area waterways for millennia.
- Genetics
Reprogrammed stem cells may mirror embryonic ones after all
Donor genetics may explain why the two cell types vary.
- Health & Medicine
Gene links smoking, multiple sclerosis
Smokers with genetic variant face tripled risk of MS.
- Chemistry
Water squishes into stable shapes, no container required
Nanoparticles lock together to hold water in place for more than a month.
- Materials Science
Radar distinguishes electronics from other metals
Using two pulses of radio waves, method could locate survivors trapped in rubble.
- Plants
Single-sex flowers release his, hers fragrances
Growing on the same tree, male blooms smell different from female blooms in certain tropical plant species.
- Earth
Trees mark the spot of buried gold
Tiny bits of the precious metal in eucalyptus leaves indicate treasure lurks belowground.
