May 10th, 2008

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In This Issue

You Are Who You Are by Default: It may be off when you’re on, but the brain network behind daydreams and a sense of self is no slacker
The Star That Ate a Mars: Astronomers study white dwarf pollution for clues to extrasolar planet ingredients
Bad Breath: Studies are homing in on which particles polluting the air are most sickening — and why
This week's table of contents

May 10th, 2008

Change Without Change

New clothes for the modern media climate, but no departure from traditional purpose for Science News.
Down with Carbon

Scientists are exploring strategies for capturing carbon dioxide and storing it safely away in order to limit the levels of that greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.
Twin Fates

Animal and human studies suggest that a girl with a twin brother may never completely escape the influence of her opposite-sex womb-mate.
Rest in peace nanobacteria, you were not alive after all

New studies bid a fond farewell to nanobacteria -- the extremely tiny “microorganisms” that have sparked controversy and may cause disease.
Shifting priorities at the wheel

Multitasking while driving may exceed brain's capacity, a new study finds. (p. 7)
Hobbit wars

Little islanders did not have a growth disorder (p. 7)
Elephant kin liked the water

Moeritherium, ancient relatives of modern elephants, may have spent much of their time in lakes, rivers or swamps.
China was an ancient-ape paradise

Fossil dig uncovers the oldest known remains of ancestral gibbons
Study decodes papaya genome

Scientists have added another plant to the genome-sequencing roster: the tropical fruit tree papaya. (p. 9)
Beetle attack overturns forest carbon regime

Ravaged Canadian region switches from carbon sink to net carbon source.
Triggering autoimmune assaults

Mouth bacteria unleash inflammation-inducing protein
Old drug offers new tricks for fighting cancer

A drug once envisioned as a treatment for cancer might instead prevent the occurrence of colorectal cancer.
Black hole once glowed brightly

More than 26,000 years ago, the Milky Way's central black hole suddenly but fleetingly increases its X-ray output.
Battle over WIMPs goes another round

Physicists haggle over WIMPS.
Searching for superEarths

Astronomers are exploring a new family of planets beyond the solar system.
Eight-legged bags of poison

Birds eating arachnids get high dose of toxic metal as mercury climbs up the food chain.
Polluted Scents

Insects and Bats May Face Confusion
Melt pond falls through ice in Greenland

A lake of meltwater atop Greenland's ice sheet wedged open a crack in the underlying ice that drained the lake dry.