News in Brief
- Animals
A brain chemical tells when to fight or flee
Crickets tally the knocks they take in a fight, and flee when their brains release nitric oxide to tell them they’ve had enough.
- Archaeology
Ring brings ancient Viking, Islamic civilizations closer together
Ancient find fingers ninth century connection between Vikings and Islamic civilization.
- Astronomy
Super-Earths may form in two ways
Rocky planets much heavier than Earth may form in different ways.
- Planetary Science
Aurora shift confirms Ganymede’s ocean
New observations confirm the presence of a liquid saltwater ocean beneath the surface of Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede.
- Planetary Science
Chinese rover reveals moon’s layers
Radar imaging done by China’s Yutu lunar rover reveals that the moon’s geological history could be more complex than once thought.
- Paleontology
How arthropods got their legs
New fossils reveal how arthropods evolved branching limbs.
- Life
Chickens to blame for spread of latest deadly bird flu
Chickens are responsible for the second wave of H7N9 bird flu in China.
- Health & Medicine
Teens have higher anaphylaxis risk than younger kids
Adolescents may be more apt to experience an extreme allergic reaction than younger children, researchers report.
- Life
Experimental herpes vaccine works in mice
An experimental herpes vaccine works in animal tests by using an approach starkly different from that used in previous vaccine development.
- Paleontology
Possible ancestor of sponges found
An exquisitely preserved 600-million-year-old fossil from China has cell types and a shape resembling sponges, thought to be among the first multicellular animals to evolve.
- Astronomy
Remote star clusters discovered on edge of Milky Way
Two newly discovered star clusters are the first ever seen at the remote edges of the Milky Way.
- Health & Medicine
Dose of extra oxygen revs up cancer-fighting immune cells
Extra oxygen helps immune cells shrink tumors in cancer-ridden mice.
