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America's first inhabitants were people from Asia who migrated over a now-submerged land bridge between the two continents. But when did they come, and where did they go after making their crossing? Rex Dalton reports.
Forensic science is already a mainstay of modern police work. But are criminologists missing a trick by failing to apply the latest scientific findings to crime prevention? Jim Giles investigates.
Chromosome rearrangements within species are thought to contribute to reproductive isolation between species. This has now been shown directly by unrearranging yeast chromosomes to break down a species barrier.
Data from NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe reveal the cosmic microwave background in more detail than ever before. But will cosmology become a victim of its own success?
Claims that fasting eases symptoms of autoimmune disease have been met with scepticism. But the idea receives some support from the finding that leptin, a hormone that controls body weight, also regulates autoimmunity.
The polymerase chain reaction is widely used to amplify samples of DNA for genetic analysis, and fast, high throughput is the ideal. Microscale, chip-based devices are now proving themselves in this arena.
An analysis of when birds land on the island of Helgoland in the North Sea shows that spring migration is happening earlier now than 40 years ago. This change in timing correlates with changes in climate.
Objects in the Kuiper belt, which lies beyond Neptune, occur as two distinct populations. One group may have migrated from a region closer to the Sun, caught by Neptune's gravity as it wandered in the early Solar System.
The direct demonstration that chloroplast DNA can be incorporated into the nuclear genome of plants, even though it is unlikely that such DNA would be functional, will influence thinking in plant biotechnology.
Tight new security measures aimed at preventing terrorism mean that postdocs and students travelling to the United States need to make plans a long way in advance and expect delays, says Karen Kreeger.