Archives
More Stories from the December 31, 2011 issue
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LifeA gland grows itself
Japanese researchers coax a pituitary to develop from stem cells in a lab dish.
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Physics
Superconductor may hide long-sought secret
It conducts electricity without resistance, sure; but a new material could also demonstrate the existence of a particle proposed 70 years ago.
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Health & Medicine
Coffee delivers jolt deep in the brain
Caffeine strengthens electrical signals in a portion of the hippocampus, a study in rats finds.
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Life
Biology’s big bang had a long fuse
The fossil record’s earliest troves of animal life are the result of more than 200 million years of evolution.
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Life
Eggs have own biological clock
Reproductive cells age independently from the rest of the body, research in worms reveals.
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Earth
Dead Sea once went dry
The Holy Land’s salt lake ran out of water during a warm spell about 120,000 years ago, which suggests it could disappear again.
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Life
Building the body electric
Eyes can be grown in a frog’s gut by changing cells’ electrical properties, scientists find, opening up new possibilities for generating and regenerating complex organs.
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Health & Medicine
Bedbugs not averse to inbreeding
The pests have also developed ways to resist common insecticides, research shows.
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Chemistry
Deep-sea battery comes to light
Microbes fuel a weak electrical current at hydrothermal vents.
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Earth
Weather affects timing of some natural hazards
Seasonal patterns in earthquakes and volcanic eruptions can be linked to rain and snow in certain locations.
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Physics
Tantalizing hints of long-sought particle
Europe’s LHC collider finds traces of what could be the Higgs boson, a theoretical entity that explains why matter has mass.
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