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Chemistry

Superheavy element 117 makes debut

An international team of researchers fill a gap in the periodic table, and lay another stepping stone along the path to the “island of stability.”

Chemistry

Study reports hints of phthalate threat to boys’ IQs

You may have a hard time spelling phthalates, but there’s no avoiding them. They’re in the air you breathe, water you drink and foods you eat. And this ubiquity may carry a price, particularly for young boys, emerging data suggest. Including a drop in their IQ.

Health & Medicine

Languages use different parts of brain

Different areas are active depending how the grammar of a sentence conveys meaning.

Climate

Alaskan peatlands expanded rapidly as ice age waned

The rapid growth of Alaskan wetlands before 8,600 years ago was due to hotter summers and colder winters, which could spell trouble in a warmer world, a new study suggests.

Life

Insulin-producing cells can regenerate in diabetic mice

Animal study finds that the pancreas can spontaneously regenerate beta cells.

Life

Researchers figure out how flies taste water

A study identifies the cell membrane protein that flies use to detect water’s flavor.

Chemistry

Skin as a source of drug pollution

Traces of over-the-counter and prescription meds taint the environment. The presumption Ì and it's a good one Ì has been that most of these residues come from the urine and solid wastes excreted by treated patients. But in some instances, a leading source of a drug may be skin Ì either because the medicine was applied there or because people sweat it out.

Math

Million-dollar math prize awarded, but not necessarily accepted

The reclusive mathematician who proved the Poincaré conjecture may or may not claim his prize.

Life

When two hyenas get the giggles

Laughs of higher-status individuals are more posh, a study in a captive colony suggests.

Anthropology

Inca cemetery holds brutal glimpses of Spanish violence

Bones from a 500-year-old cemetery have yielded the first direct evidence of Inca death at Spaniards’ hands.

Health & Medicine

Bees forage with their guts

Researchers show that a gene helps honeybees choose between nectar and pollen.

Space

Cosmic magnetic field strength measured

Hints of weak magnetism between galaxies narrows options for how the early universe got its fields.