News

Anthropology

Human ancestors threw stone-tipped spears at prey

African discoveries show that hunting weapons thrown from a distance appeared by 279,000 years ago.

Health & Medicine

Quick cooling after cardiac arrest questioned

For a decade, doctors have made induced hypothermia standard practice.

Animals

Mothballs, rubbing alcohol score poorly in tests of DIY bedbug control

Mattress encasement, dry ice in bags, hot clothes dryers do help control infestation.

Health & Medicine

Changes in malaria parasite may make Africans more susceptible

Ominous signals are emerging simultaneously in population studies and under the microscope that Plasmodium vivax, a malaria parasite well known in Asia and Latin America, may have found a way to infect Africans.

Genetics

Dogs’ origins lie in Europe

First domesticated canines did not live in China or Middle East, a study of mitochondrial DNA finds.

Physics

Single photon detected but not destroyed

Researchers build first instrument that can witness the passage of a light particle without absorbing it.

Health & Medicine

Prion mutation yields disease marked by diarrhea

Rare prion ailment starts in adulthood, attacking the gut before brain.

Humans

Bigger numbers, not better brains, smarten human cultures

An experiment using a computer game supports the idea that big populations drove the evolution of complex human cultures.

Oceans

Extremely salty water is at least 100 million years old

Supersaline sediments off East Coast shed light on Atlantic Ocean’s early history.

Neuroscience

Bacteria may transfer mom’s stress to fetus

Expecting mice under psychological pressure passed different mix of microbes to their pups, affecting the babies’ brains.

Animals

Sea slug mating features a stab in the head

Newly discovered hermaphroditic sea slug deploys specialized needle-thin organ for injections near the eyes.

Microbes

Surprising metals found in microbes

Scientists discover the first case of an organism needing a rare earth element for survival.