Vol. 188 No. 1
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More Stories from the July 11, 2015 issue

  1. Planetary Science

    Pluto’s four littlest moons probably born in a crash

    On the eve of the arrival of the New Horizons spacecraft, Pluto’s tiny moons hint at a common origin.

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  2. Genetics

    DNA tags mostly deleted in human germ cells

    Human embryos come with some heavy-duty erasers. Chemical tags on DNA get mostly wiped out in the womb.

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  3. Neuroscience

    Female’s nose blocks scent of a male

    When a female mouse is in an infertile stage of her reproductive cycle, her nose cells don’t alert her brain to the presence of a potential mate.

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  4. Physics

    Rogue waves don’t always appear unannounced

    Scientists may be able to forecast the arrival of anomalously large ocean swells, suggest scientists who analyzed the moments before rogue water waves and freak light flashes.

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  5. Science & Society

    Irreproducible life sciences research in U.S. costs $28 billion

    Problems with preclinical research often stem from study design and experiments’ materials.

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  6. Astronomy

    Some of sun’s magnetic fields may act more like forests

    A swaying forest of mangrovelike magnetic fields on the sun could be the answer to why the solar atmosphere is millions of degrees hotter than the surface.

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  7. Archaeology

    Bronze Age humans racked up travel miles

    A new study indicates long journeys and unexpected genetic links in Bronze Age Eurasian cultures.

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  8. Anthropology

    Human laugh lines traced back to ape ancestors

    Chimps make laughing faces that speak to evolution of human ha-ha’s.

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  9. Anthropology

    Modern-day trackers reinterpret Stone Age cave footprints

    African trackers help researchers interpret ancient human footprints in French caves.

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  10. Animals

    Newly discovered tiny frogs live on islands in the sky

    Scientists find seven new species of frogs in southern Brazil, and more could be waiting, they say.

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  11. Earth

    Fluid injection triggers earthquakes indirectly, study finds

    An up-close look at artificially triggered quakes suggests that tremors start slow and smooth.

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  12. Life

    A protein variant can provide protection from deadly brain-wasting

    If cannibalism hadn’t stopped, a protective protein may have ended kuru anyway.

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  13. Neuroscience

    Alzheimer’s spares brain’s music regions

    Brain regions involved in recognizing familiar songs are relatively unscathed in Alzheimer’s disease.

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  14. Life

    Aging: Nature’s way of reducing competition for resources

    Aging may have developed in many species as a genetic mechanism to conserve future resources. If the controversial proposal is true, then scientists may be able to greatly extend life span by deactivating the machinery for aging embedded in our DNA.

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  15. Animals

    One bold, misinformed spider slows a colony’s ability to learn

    Incorrect ideas prove more dangerous in bold velvet spiders than in shyer ones.

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  16. Animals

    How mantis shrimps spar

    In ritualized combat between deadly mantis shrimp, blows count but don’t kill.

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  17. Health & Medicine

    New cancer drugs wake up sleeping killer T cells

    The immune system’s T cells, often evaded by tumors, might now resume the attack.

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  18. Planetary Science

    50 years ago, Mariner 4 sent back first pictures from Mars

    On July 14, 1965, Mariner 4 became the first spacecraft to fly by Mars. The probe also sent back the first pictures of another planet taken from space.

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  19. Earth

    Grand Canyon’s age revised, again

    The Grand Canyon is much younger than previous research had suggested, a new study says.

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  20. Planetary Science

    Saturn’s widest ring measured

    Saturn has an invisible belt that's nearly 270 times as wide as the giant planet, researchers report.

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  21. Health & Medicine

    Antibiotics can treat appendicitis

    Antibiotics can successfully treat the majority of cases of a type of appendicitis, researchers find.

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  22. Tech

    New app creates a searchable network of species worldwide

    A free new app compiles millions of records of species worldwide and allows users to add sightings.

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  23. Science & Society

    ‘Faith vs. Fact’ takes aim at religion

    Jerry Coyne’s ‘Faith vs. Fact’ argues that science is the best – perhaps only – way of learning about the world.

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  24. Physics

    ‘The Science of TV’s the Big Bang Theory’ educates as it entertains

    A science book inspired by fictional scientists helps readers understand everything from particle physics to potato electricity.

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  25. Physics

    In retirement, Nobelist takes up moon bouncing

    A lifelong amateur radio enthusiast, Joseph Taylor sends signals via the moon.

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