News in Brief
- Microbes
Mini ‘solar panels’ help yeast shine at churning out drug ingredients
Microbes equipped with light-harvesting semiconductor particles generate useful chemicals much more efficiently than ordinary microbes.
- Health & Medicine
U.S. cases of a polio-like illness rise, but there are few clues to its cause
A total of 90 cases of acute flaccid myelitis have been confirmed so far this year, out of 252 under investigation.
- Quantum Physics
Physicists wrangled electrons into a quantum fractal
The tiny, repeating structure could reveal weird behavior of electrons in fractional dimensions.
- Life
The number of calories you burn while resting depends on the time of day
This daily cycle of calorie burning is one of the many body processes that follow a biological clock.
- Health & Medicine
A new drug may boost dwindling treatment options for gonorrhea
An antibiotic that targets the bacteria that causes gonorrhea proved effective in treating patients in a clinical trial.
- Neuroscience
Marijuana may change the decision-making part of teen brains
A marijuana-like drug given to male rats during adolescence changed the structure of their brains.
- Physics
Bizarre metals may help unlock mysteries of how Earth’s magnetic field forms
Weyl metals could simulate the dynamo effect that generates the planet’s magnetism, a new study suggests.
- Neuroscience
A lack of sleep can induce anxiety
Pulling an all-nighter induced anxiety in healthy people, a recent study finds.
- Particle Physics
Physicists measured Earth’s mass using neutrinos for the first time
Counting tiny particles that can zip straight through the Earth reveals what the planet is like on the inside.
- Astronomy
Hubble has been busy since coming back online
Since getting back to work on October 26, the Hubble Space Telescope has been studying red dwarf flares, among other celestial objects.
- Anthropology
Neandertal teeth reveal the earliest known signs of lead exposure
Chemical analyses of teeth from young Neandertals show that lead exposure in hominids goes back some 250,000 years.
- Archaeology
Fossils hint hominids migrated through a ‘green’ Arabia 300,000 years ago
A once-green Arabia may have enabled Stone Age entries by Homo groups.
