News in Brief
- Genetics
Cloning produces stem cells from adult skin
Human embryonic stem cells made using adult cells could enable medical advances such as replacement organs.
- Astronomy
White dwarf boosts light of stellar companion
A gravitational lens in a binary star lets astronomers weigh the core of a dead star.
- Animals
Scent of a fruit fly larva comes from its gut microbes
Microbes in the guts of fly larvae produce smells that attract fruit flies.
- Anthropology
Laetoli footprints show signs of unusual gait
Contrary to prior study, 3.6-million-year-old hominids in Tanzania did not walk like humans.
- Anthropology
Earliest case of a battered child found in Greece
A baby living in Athens around 2,200 years ago was probably beaten to death.
- Earth
Huge space rock rattled Earth 3 billion years ago
An asteroid almost as wide as Rhode Island may have plowed into Earth 3.26 billion years ago, leaving a trace in South Africa’s Barberton greenstone belt.
- Anthropology
Ancient boy died surprisingly young
Imaging analysis reduces age of Australopithecus sediba youngster from 9 to 7.5 years old.
- Genetics
Five mutations could make bird flu spread easily
Handful of alterations can turn H5N1 bird flu into virus that infects ferrets through the air.
- Cosmology
Galaxy’s gamma-ray glow may expose dark matter
An excess of gamma rays at the center of the Milky Way could be a signature of dark matter.
- Computing
App could cut jet lag short
A new app calculates lighting schedules to help travelers adjust quickly to new time zones.
- Paleontology
La Brea Tar Pits yield exquisite Ice Age bees
Ancient bee pupae snug in leafy nest give clues to Pleistocene climate.
- Cosmology
Speed of early universe’s expansion determined
The rate known as the Hubble constant is measured with great precision for the universe of 11 billion years ago.
