News
- Anthropology
Early Ancestors Come Together: Humanity’s roots may lie in single, diverse genus
Newly discovered fossil teeth in eastern Africa that are more than 5 million years old suggest that the earliest members of the human family evolved as a single, anatomically diverse genus.
- Animals
Jungle Genes: First bird genome is decoded
Researchers have unveiled a draft of the first bird genome to be sequenced, a vintage chicken.
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Sunny Solution: Lotion speeds DNA repair, protects mice from skin cancer
Snippets of DNA that activate a cell's DNA repair process may protect mice from skin cancer caused by ultraviolet radiation.
- Planetary Science
Red Planet Makes a Splash: Rover finds gush of evidence for past water
A robotic rover on Mars has gathered what scientists are calling the best evidence to date that liquid water once flowed on the Red Planet.
- Chemistry
Clean hydrogen fuel from corn?
A new reactor can convert ethanol from corn into hydrogen fuel with enough efficiency to make the process economical.
- Tech
Silicon goes optical
The advent of a fast, light-manipulating microdevice made from silicon suggests that speedy optical-fiber links now too expensive for broad use in businesses and homes may soon become widespread.
- Health & Medicine
Quantum sentinels
Quantum physics may soon help physicians track whether a cancer has spread.
- Health & Medicine
Gene transfer puts good fats in mammals
Scientists have used a worm gene to genetically engineer mice whose tissues are unusually rich in the heart-healthy fats found mainly in fish.
- Astronomy
Pulsar pas de deux
Astronomers have for the first time discovered two pulsars orbiting each other, offering the chance for new precision tests of Einstein's theory of general relativity.
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Keeping abreast of serotonin’s roles
Serotonin, a chemical typically associated with the brain, also controls milk production in mammary glands.
- Health & Medicine
Averting Pain: Epilepsy drug limits migraine attacks
A drug normally used against epilepsy can prevent migraine headaches.
- Paleontology
Old Colonies: Ancient formations are termites’ legacy
New analyses of mysterious pillars at two sites in southern Africa suggest that the sandstone features are petrified remains of large, elaborate termite nests.
