News in Brief
- Health & Medicine
Underactive thyroid ups pregnancy risks
Several complications are more common in women with the condition, including gestational diabetes and cesarean births.
- Plants
Giant genomes felled by DNA sequencing advances
Complete genetic blueprints have been collected for several conifer species.
- Life
Analog circuits boost power in living computers
New cell-based computers do division and logarithms more like a slide rule than a laptop.
- Humans
Highlights from the Biology of Genomes meeting
Highlights from the genome biology meeting held May 7-11 in Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., include an enormous tree's enormous genome, genes for strong-swimming sperm, and back-to-Africa migration some 3,000 years ago.
- Chemistry
Microsculptures made easy
Minerals assemble on demand into tiny, complex shapes like tiny flowers.
- Materials Science
3-D imaging, pixel by pixel
Easy technique uses inexpensive equipment to make three-dimensional rendering.
- Oceans
Glacier melt causes large fraction of sea level rise
From 2003 to 2009, thawing ice nearly as large a contributor to oceans as massive sheets at poles, researchers find in new analysis.
- Climate
Warming may not release Arctic carbon
Element could stay locked in soil, 20-year study suggests.
- Animals
The secret behind the alligator’s toothy smile
Dental stem cells enable the reptile to grow new teeth every year, researchers find.
- Animals
Cannibalistic spiders may just be choosy guys
Male Micaria sociabilis may choose to have older female for lunch, not sex.
- Climate
Carbon dioxide in atmosphere reaches landmark level
At 400 parts per million, greenhouse gas concentration is now higher than it has been for millions of years.
- Earth
Japan’s 2011 earthquake upped Tokyo’s risk
Chance more than doubled that capital city will soon experience big temblor, researchers calculate.
