News in Brief
- Planetary Science
Juno transmits first intimate snapshots of Jupiter
Hurricane-like clouds spiral over Jupiter’s poles, new photos taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft reveal.
- Planetary Science
Water plays big role in shaping dwarf planet Ceres
Findings from the Dawn spacecraft turn up cryovolcanoes, ice patches and hydrated minerals on Ceres, supporting the idea that water helped shape the dwarf planet.
- Genetics
Thank (or blame) your genes for ability to handle java jolt
A gene involved in caffeine processing may control coffee consumption.
- Animals
Warm-up benefit could explain morning birdsong
Even birds sing better after vocal warm-up, and an evolutionary arms race among rivals might have led to the intensity of the dawn chorus.
- Animals
Bird nest riddle: Which shape came first?
Today’s simple cup-shaped songbird nests look as if they just had to have evolved before roofed nests. But that could be backward.
- Health & Medicine
Zika kills brain cells in adult mice
Zika virus may harm more than babies: The virus can infect and kill brain cells in adult mice, too.
- Life
Two stationary kinds of bacteria can move when mixed
Bacteria stuck when alone on a dry surface get moving — and get faster — when they evolve together.
- Life
For bacteria, assassination can breed cooperation
Cholera bacteria stabbing each other can encourage the evolution of cooperation.
- Astronomy
Dark matter candidate particles are a no-show in Hitomi data
Before the Hitomi satellite broke apart, it captured data that cast further doubt on evidence of X-rays from dark matter particles in a galaxy cluster.
- Animals
Colugo genome reveals gliders as primate cousins
New genetic analysis suggests gliding mammals called colugos are actually sisters to modern primates.
- Genetics
Scientists get a glimpse of chemical tagging in live brains
For the first time scientists can see where molecular tags known as epigenetic marks are placed in the brain.
- Animals
Betty the crow may not have invented her hook-bending tool trick
Textbook example of Betty the crow’s proposed insight into toolmaking is now called into question by observations of similar hook bending by wild New Caledonian birds.
