News in Brief
- Anthropology
Viking-era woman sheds light on Iceland’s earliest settlers
Viking-era woman accompanied island’s early settlers as a child from Scandinavia or Britain.
- Astronomy
Kepler telescope readies for new mission after communications scare
The Kepler space telescope has recovered from going into emergency mode and is now ready for its next planet-hunting mission.
- Neuroscience
Lip-readers ‘hear’ silent words
Lipreading prompts activity in the brain’s listening area.
- Neuroscience
Forgetting can be hard work for your brain
It can take more work to forget something than to remember it.
- Animals
Ant antennae provide chemical ID
Ants use their antennae to identify nest-mates and potential invaders. But antennae also produce the key compounds that ants use to tell friend from foe.
- Psychology
Marijuana use starting in youth implicated in financial woes
Long-term, heavy pot smoking linked to financial troubles by age 38.
- Animals
Lethal bat disease moves west
For the first time, the bat-killing white-nose syndrome shows up west of the Rockies.
- Health & Medicine
Machine makes drugs on demand
A new drug-making system rapidly produces a variety of medications on demand.
- Animals
Ancient snake wore green
Scientists have reconstructed the skin coloration of a fossilized snake that’s about 10 million years old.
- Archaeology
Ancient Assyrians buried their dead with turtles
Why did ancient Assyrians bury their dead with turtles? The reptiles may have served as symbolic protectors of the dead.
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- Earth
Quake risk in parts of central U.S. as high as in fault-filled California
A new report from the U.S. Geological Survey shows an increased earthquake hazard from human activities such as the disposal of fracking wastewater.
