Vol. 189 No. 3
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More Stories from the February 6, 2016 issue

  1. Paleontology

    Bubbles may have sheltered Earth’s early life

    Bubbles formed on ancient shorelines offer scientists a new place to look for traces of early life.

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  2. Chemistry

    Four elements earn permanent seats on the periodic table

    The four newest elements on the periodic table gain official recognition and will be getting new names soon.

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  3. Astronomy

    Black hole burps up gobbled gas and dust

    Two belches from a supermassive black hole are drifting away from another galaxy.

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  4. Life

    Gene tweak led to humans’ big toe

    For lack of gene regulator, the human big toe appeared.

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  5. Paleontology

    Saber-toothed salmon teeth more like tusks than fangs

    Saber-toothed salmon teeth may not have been positioned like fangs at all.

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  6. Astronomy

    The votes are in: Exoplanets get new names

    Arion, Galileo and Poltergeist are just three winners of a contest to name planets and suns in 20 solar systems.

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  7. Astronomy

    This black hole is an extreme recycler

    A cosmic pump powered by a supermassive black hole is recycling gas through a galaxy.

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  8. Genetics

    The Iceman tells a new tale: Infection with ulcer-causing bacteria

    Ötzi the Iceman was infected with a virulent strain of H. pylori. A new study is the first to piece together an ancient genome of these bacteria.

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  9. Astronomy

    To search for an advanced civilization, take a U-turn to star clusters

    Globular star clusters might be safe, stable homes for long-lived advanced civilizations.

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  10. Earth

    Ground shakes expose faraway earthquake hot spots

    A major earthquake in Costa Rica revealed faraway areas where fluids have weakened rock and boosted the risk of a major earthquake, new research suggests.

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  11. Astronomy

    Newfound gas cloud may be graveyard of first stars

    A 12-billion-year-old gas cloud, rich in hydrogen and helium but nothing else, may house the remains of the universe’s first stars.

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  12. Life

    Body’s bacteria don’t outnumber human cells so much after all

    New calculations show human cells about equal bacteria in the body.

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  13. Neuroscience

    Pain produces memory gain

    Searing pain can burn memories into the brain.

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  14. Astronomy

    Red giants map how the Milky Way grew

    A new catalog of the ages of our galaxy’s stars confirms that the Milky Way grew from the inside out.

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  15. Archaeology

    Ancient stone tools raise tantalizing questions over who colonized Sulawesi

    Hominids reached an island not far from hobbits’ home by around 200,000 years ago.

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  16. Paleontology

    Plesiosaurs swam like penguins

    Computer simulations of plesiosaur swimming motion may resolve long-standing debate on how the marine reptile got around.

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  17. Life

    Search is on for missing pieces in puzzle of male genital diversity

    The debate over extreme diversity of male genitalia needs to rethink the female side. And the landscape.

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  18. Physics

    Early quark estimates not entirely realized

    Decades of research have shed a little light on quarks, the mysterious building blocks of atoms.

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  19. Cosmology

    ‘The Cosmic Web’ weaves tale of universe’s architecture

    A new book chronicles the quest over the last century to understand how the universe is pieced together and how it came to be this way.

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  20. Animals

    Christmas tree worms have eyes that breathe, gills that see

    Christmas tree worms and other fan worms have improvised some of the oddest eyes.

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  21. Animals

    Small lizard packs powerful tongue

    A tiny chameleon from South Africa sets an acceleration and power record for amniotes.

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  22. Physics

    More details on Stephen Hawking’s solution to black hole problem

    Stephen Hawking and colleagues have finally provided more information about how black holes might preserve information.

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  23. Archaeology

    Roman toilets didn’t flush parasites

    Roman sanitation measures did little to dent parasite numbers, a study finds.

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  24. Genetics

    Drug candidate fails to improve symptoms of fragile X syndrome

    A drug designed to treat fragile X syndrome has proven ineffective in clinical trials.

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  25. Chemistry

    Experiment offers glimpse at how to make hydrogen metallic

    A new phase of hydrogen could represent the stepping stone for transforming element 1 into a metal.

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