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  1. DNA’s Moody Temperament: Gene variant linked to depression-ready brain

    A common version of a gene involved in regulating the neurotransmitter serotonin creates a brain that responds sensitively to stress and is therefore more likely to become depressed.

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  2. Astronomy

    Fleeting Flash: Pinpointing a short gamma-ray burst

    An invisible, highly energetic flash detected by a spacecraft early this week may have given astronomers their first glimpse of two neutron stars colliding to forge a black hole.

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  3. 19550

    This article states that “the resulting blurred view is good enough for spotting large objects such as mangrove roots.” It seems to me that the article is missing the crucial biological question presented by these eyes. My understanding is that the nervous system of a jellyfish contains no true nerves and no centralization. How can […]

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  4. Animals

    Built for Blurs: Jellyfish have great eyes that can’t focus

    Eight of a box jellyfish's eyes have superb lenses, but their structure prevents them from focusing sharply.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Proteins’ Promise: New test could reveal early ovarian cancer

    A screening test for ovarian cancer shows promise in preliminary trials.

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  6. Physics

    Galactic data shore up a constant

    Alpha, a constant of nature found to vary in some astrophysical studies, actually holds steady, according to the first survey of galaxies used to evaluate alpha's constancy.

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  7. Physics

    Scales tilt against five-quark particles

    Studies that fail to find purported five-quark particles, or pentaquarks, are stacking up quicker than studies that claim to have found such particles, suggesting that they might not really exist.

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  8. Physics

    Test puts pedal to heavy metal

    Stellar explosions forge heavy elements such as gold more quickly than scientists had predicted, as indicated by the first measurement of the half-life of a rare form of nickel that's a key link in the chain of element formation.

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  9. Chemistry

    Crystal clear

    Growing drug crystals on different polymer surfaces could improve a critical step in the development of pharmaceuticals.

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  10. Earth

    Air pollution linked to wheat diseases

    The abundance of the air pollutant sulfur dioxide appears to influence which of two fungal pathogens plague more wheat plants.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Waking up that lazy eye

    Wearing an eye patch can improve vision in children with amblyopia, or lazy eye, up to age 17.

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  12. Learning to Listen

    Disparate groups of creatures, including bats, toothed whales, and birds, have evolved biological sonar that they use to track prey, but other creatures have evolved ways to detect this sonar and thereby increase their odds of survival.

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