News in Brief

  1. Planetary Science

    Rosetta may have spotted comet’s primordial ingredients

    Photos taken by the Rosetta spacecraft may show pristine material that formed the solar system’s comets, asteroids and planets roughly 4.6 billion years ago.

    By Andrew Grant
  2. Health & Medicine

    Old product might help smokers quit

    A drug used in Eastern Europe for decades by people trying to quit smoking outperformed a nicotine patch in a six-month test.

    By Nathan Seppa
  3. Life

    Fast test reveals drug-resistant bacteria

    A new test uses time-lapse photography to see within a few hours whether individual bacterial cells are vulnerable to antibiotics.

    By Kate Baggaley
  4. Planetary Science

    Rover finds methane in Mars air, organics in rocks

    NASA’s Curiosity rover has found organic molecules on Mars, but scientists can’t say whether they are a sign of life on the Red Planet.