News in Brief
- Health & Medicine
In malaria battle, indoor bug spraying has unintended consequence
Years of spraying indoors may inadvertently have push malaria-spreading mosquitoes to venture outdoors for a bite.
- Life
Benign-turned-deadly bacterium baffles scientists
Outbreak of Elizabethkingia continues to grow as disease investigators struggle to find source.
- Life
For cleanest hands, squirt and count to 30
Rubbing hands for 30 seconds is the most effective way to use hand sanitizer, a study of health care workers finds.
- Life
For tooth decay microbes, many routes lead to kids’ mouths
Mothers aren’t their children’s only source of bacteria that cause dental cavities, new research shows.
- Astronomy
Bulging stars mess with planet’s seasons
On planets orbiting rapidly rotating stars, the seasons can get a little strange.
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- Astronomy
Molecular handedness found in space
Propylene oxide in an interstellar cloud sets up a testing ground for understanding why life chooses one type of mirror-image molecule over another.
- Animals
City living shortens great tits’ telomeres
Great tits raised in urban nests have shorter protective caps on their chromosomes than those raised in rural nests.
- Astronomy
Limestone world gobbled by planet-eating white dwarf
Debris from a shredded planet points to a world that was once covered in calcium carbonate.
- Animals
‘Kermit Sutra’ gets seventh amphibian mating position
Bombay night frogs’ unusual mating protocol features indirect sperm transfer and female croaks.
- Life
Refined ‘three-parent-baby’ procedure improves chances for healthy infant
Improved technique could reduce risk of passing on faulty mitochondria.
- Chemistry
Four newest elements on periodic table get names
Four elements officially recognized in December, highlighted in yellow, now have names that honor Japan, Moscow, Tennessee and physicist Yuri Oganessian.
