News
- Astronomy
Magnetic ‘glue’ helps shape galaxies
Galaxy-wide magnetic fields may play a role in shaping the spiral arms of gas and stars.
- Neuroscience
Sense of smell is strictly personal, study suggests
A new test can identify individuals based on their sense of smell, and may hold information about a person’s genetic makeup as well.
- Neuroscience
Brain’s adult stem cells born early
By tracing the lineages of adult stem cells in the mouse brain, scientists get a view of the cells’ early lives.
- Earth
Fast-spreading crack threatens giant Antarctic ice shelf
A fast-spreading crack threatens Larsen C, one of Antarctica’s biggest ice shelves, satellite data suggest.
- Animals
When baboons travel, majority rules
GPS study suggests baboons use simple rules to resolve travel disputes without leaders.
- Genetics
Ivory DNA pinpoints poaching hot spots
Genetic analysis of ivory DNA reveals major poaching hot spots in Africa.
- Agriculture
Many of Earth’s groundwater basins run deficits
Twenty-one of Earth’s 37 largest groundwater basins are rapidly depleting, satellite data show.
- Anthropology
Kennewick Man’s DNA links him to present-day Native Americans
Genetic analysis of Kennewick Man suggests that the ancient Pacific Northwest man was most closely related to modern Native Americans, not Polynesians.
- Health & Medicine
Curtailing calories on a schedule yields health benefits
Eating an extreme low-calorie diet that mimics fasting just a few consecutive days a month may yield a bounty of health benefits, research suggests.
- Genetics
Ebola continues to shift, but grows no more fatal
In the West African epidemic, Ebola evolved and spread quickly, but the virus is not becoming deadlier over time.
- Animals
One bold, misinformed spider slows a colony’s ability to learn
Incorrect ideas prove more dangerous in bold velvet spiders than in shyer ones.
- Astronomy
Distant galaxy may contain primeval stars
A stockpile of the first generation of stars might be lighting up gas in a galaxy that existed roughly 800 million years after the Big Bang.
