View the video For the first time, scientists have created human embryonic stem cells by transferring the nucleus of a mature cell into an egg. The cloning technique could nudge the dream of personalized medicine closer to reality, researchers suggest May 15 in Cell. 05.15.13 | more >>

A low-energy alternative to traditional lasers is finally available in plug-in form, a crucial step toward developing a practical alternative to the comparatively inefficient devices in use today. These so-called polariton lasers could soon find a niche in telecommunications and medical applications. 05.15.13 | more >>

COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. – Taming foxes changes not only the animals’ behavior but also their brain chemistry, a new study shows. 05.15.13 | more >>

The oldest known fossils of an ape and a monkey have been uncovered, providing an intriguing glimpse of a crucial time in primate evolution. 05.15.13 | more >>

Drilling more than two kilometers into the ground beneath Canada, geologists have struck scientific gold: pockets of flowing water isolated underground for at least 1.5 billion years and perhaps as long as 2.64 billion years. 05.15.13 | more >>

NEWS IN BRIEF Element could stay locked in soil, 20-year study suggests 05.15.13 | more >>

The disruption of sleep and other bodily rhythms that often accompanies clinical depression may leave a mark on the brain. A study of gene activity in the brains of people who suffered from depression reveals that their daily clocks were probably out of whack. The results appear May 13 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 05.14.13 | more >>

NEWS IN BRIEF Dental stem cells enable the reptile to grow new teeth every year 05.13.13 | more >>

A new fire-retardant coating suppresses flames without the toxic effects of some commercially used flame retardants. Torch a piece of furniture foam that’s been dipped in the coating and the flame smolders and snuffs out, new experiments show. 05.13.13 | more >>

NEWS IN BRIEF Micaria sociabilis may choose to have older female for lunch, not sex 05.13.13 | more >>

NEWS IN BRIEF At 400 parts per million, greenhouse gas concentration is now higher than it has been for millions of years 05.10.13 | more >>

NEWS IN BRIEF Chance more than doubled that capital city will soon experience big temblor 05.10.13 | more >>

Same genes, same environment, different behavior.

Identical twin mice sharing the same mazelike environment develop distinct personalities based on how much they explore their surroundings, researchers report in the May 10 Science. After death, those differences were reflected in the animals’ brains. 05.09.13 | more >>

Water trapped deep within the moon’s interior came from the same source as water on Earth, a new study reveals. The research suggests that the moon seized a healthy supply of water from Earth when the satellite formed in the aftermath of a cataclysmic collision 4.5 billion years ago. 05.09.13 | more >>

The Arctic wasn’t always frozen tundra. About 3.6 million years ago, the far north was blanketed in boreal forests, and summers were 8 degrees Celsius warmer than they are today, geologists report May 9 in Science. 05.09.13 | more >>

In a long-sought step toward building a safer mosquito, researchers have infected the insects with persistent bacteria that sabotage their malaria-causing parasites. 05.09.13 | more >>

NEWS IN BRIEF E. coli moving between systems may cause urinary tract infections 05.09.13 | more >>

Provocative evidence that certain memory exercises make people smarter has sparked the rise of online brain-training programs such as Lumosity. But at least one type of brain training may not work as advertised, a new study finds. 05.09.13 | more >>

Multiple sclerosis, long considered a disease of white females, has affected more black women in recent years, a new study finds. Hispanic and Asian women, who have previously seemed to be at less risk of MS, remain so, researchers report May 7 in Neurology. The findings bolster a theory that vitamin D deficiency, which is common in people with dark skin in northern latitudes, contributes to MS. 05.08.13 | more >>

The branches of Europe’s family tree converge remarkably recently in the continent’s history — around the time of the Norman conquest and the Vikings’ transatlantic voyages. 05.08.13 | more >>

Atomic nuclei come in many shapes and sizes, and scientists have now obtained precise measurements of an elusive form: pear-shaped. Studying these exotic nuclei, which are described in the May 9 Nature, could allow physicists to better understand subatomic structure and to find new particles and forces. 05.08.13 | more >>