News

  1. Sea squirt’s DNA makes a splash

    The DNA sequence of a sea squirt may reveal the origins of vertebrates.

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  2. Plants

    Drought-tolerant plant mined for survival genes

    A drought-resistant South African plant is revealing its genetic secrets.

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  3. Tests revise image of kangaroo rats

    An ecological study of kangaroo rats has revised thinking about how these desert dwellers cope with their stressful home.

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  4. Anthropology

    Fossil skull spurs identity dispute

    A dispute has broken out over whether a recently discovered, 7-million-year-old fossil skull represents the earliest known member of the human evolutionary family or an ancient ape.

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  5. Earth

    Haze clears on sooty climate conditions

    The results of a new study suggest that soot plays a bigger role in regional climate changes than scientists had previously realized.

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  6. Physics

    Ring around the proton

    An orbiting electron accelerated to relativistic velocities by a laser in a strong magnetic field can behave like a ring-shaped electron cloud spinning around the nucleus.

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  7. Physics

    Writing with warm atoms

    Researchers demonstrated that they can use a scanning tunneling microscope to position atoms in microscopic patterns at room temperature.

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  8. Archaeology

    Ancient origins of fire use

    Human ancestors may have learned to control fire 1.7 million years ago in eastern Africa.

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  9. Archaeology

    Guard dogs and horse riders

    More than 5,000 years ago, the Botai people of central Asia had ritual practices that appeared in many later cultures.

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  10. Earth

    Global warming is marmot wake-up call

    Marmots are coming out of hibernation earlier, while chipmunks and ground squirrels sleep longer-effects that could be attributed to global warming.

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  11. Chicken Rank: Hen social position shifts egg hormones

    A study of leghorn chickens has linked hormone concentrations in a hen's eggs to her rank in the pecking order.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Making Bone: Novel form of vitamin D builds up rat skeleton

    A newly synthesized form of Vitamin D induces bone-making cells to capture calcium and fortify bone mass in rats, suggesting it might work against osteoporosis in people.

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