News in Brief
- Animals
Finland’s brown bears on surprise fast track to recover diversity
Brown bears in southern Finland show surprisingly fast improvements in genetic diversity and connections with other bears.
- Physics
An even more precise atomic clock
An atomic clock described April 21 in Nature Communications is about three times as precise as its record-setting predecessor.
- Plants
Bits of bacterial DNA naturally lurk inside sweet potatoes
Samples of cultivated sweet potatoes worldwide carry DNA from Agrobacterium cousin of bacterium used for GMOs.
- Astronomy
Cosmic rays misbehave in space station experiment
A puzzling feature in a new cosmic ray census may force physicists to rethink which cosmic objects send these speedy particles hurtling across the galaxy.
- Astronomy
Color differences could recalibrate cosmic acceleration rate
Color differences in a class of supernovas could lower estimates of how much dark energy is in the universe.
- Astronomy
A look back in time reveals Milky Way’s evolution
A sample of galaxies covering 11 billion years of cosmic history helps astronomers document how the Milky Way evolved.
- Astronomy
Ringing rings reveal Saturn’s innards
Scientists propose that exotic structures are buried within Saturn, based on analyses of subtle vibrations in the planet’s rings.
- Neuroscience
When brain’s GPS goes awry, barriers can reboot it
Brain’s internal map self-corrects when it hits a (literal) wall.
- Life
Researchers pull fingers to solve why knuckles crack
Knuckle cracking is the sound of a bubble forming in a joint, MRI images reveal.
- Animals
Shimmer and shine may help prey sabotage predators’ aim
Iridescent prey was more difficult to strike in a video game for birds.
- Neuroscience
Nicotine exposure escalates rats’ desire for alcohol
Rats drink more alcohol after they’ve been hooked on nicotine.
- Astronomy
Map pinpoints location of invisible dark matter
Dark matter can’t be seen, but a new map shows where it’s hiding. The map confirms that the mysterious matter is concentrated in regions that contain a lot of ordinary matter in the form of galaxy clusters.
