News

Ecosystems

Impatiens plants are more patient with siblings

Streamside wildflower holds back on leaf competition when roots meet close kin

Life

Newborn cells clear space in brain’s memory-maker

Rodent study offers first evidence that neurogenesis clears old memories in key part of the brain to make way for new ones.

Life

Genetic effects suggest FOXP2 role in language evolution

Human version of the protein alters activity of 116 genes compared with the chimp version.

Space

Chemical fingerprint found for planet hunting

The amount of lithium in the atmosphere of sunlike stars is a powerful indicator of whether such stars have planets, a new study reveals.

Paleontology

Small ancestor of giant sauropods unearthed

Fossils suggest that the bipedal dinosaur occasionally walked on all fours and could open its mouth wide to gather foliage.

Health & Medicine

The childhood nerve cancer neuroblastoma shows weakness

A compound that unshackles a tumor-suppressing protein called p53 can slow the growth of the malignancy in mice, a new study finds.

Space

The Milky Way, aglow with activity

Combining infrared and X-ray images from three orbiting observatories, NASA has unveiled a never-before-seen composite portrait of the Milky Way’s bustling center.

Earth

Asteroid impact could have stirred the ocean

Model offers one explanation for sudden change in deep-ocean chemistry almost 2 billion years ago.

Anthropology

Macaws bred far from tropics during pre-Columbian times

Colorful birds possibly raised for ceremonial and trade purposes long before Spanish arrival

Life

Hormones give lantern sharks the glow

In a first, a study shows that bioluminescence can be controlled by slow-acting hormones, not rapid-fire nerve cells.