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A famous sixteenth-century supernova, seen by Tycho Brahe, is still a hot topic. The stellar explosion might have been initiated by a companion star — and modern astronomers have at last identified it.
The Red List Index is a new indicator of species' extinction risk. It will make a major contribution in measuring the success of an internationally agreed aim to slow biodiversity loss by 2010.
An ingeniously constructed record of sunspot activity shows that the current episode is the most intense for several thousand years. But that does not let us off the anthropogenic hook of global warming.
How does natural selection affect lifespan? The question has exercised biologists for some years. The latest twist comes from ingenious experiments on tropical fish from different ecological backgrounds.
We are the only living species of the genus Homo. Given the startling results of a cave excavation in Southeast Asia, it seems that we coexisted with another species until much more recently than had been thought.
Just over three years ago, it was announced that a first draft of the human genome sequence had been completed. Gaps and errors remained, but the job of fixing those problems is now largely done.
The genome of a second pufferfish species has been sequenced. Why is this important? Because comparing this genome with that of other animals yields a wealth of information on genome evolution.
Data from Europe in 1940–42, and simulations of severe El Niño events, suggest that the effects of such events can be unexpectedly far-reaching. The stratosphere could be a key player in this behaviour.
According to a prediction of general relativity, the spinning mass of the Earth affects the motion of satellites. A measurement of this ‘frame-dragging’ effect confirms Einstein's theory.
The discovery of a protein that regulates the production of antibody-generating B cells has implications for our understanding of how cancers of the immune system develop — and how they might be treated.
The results of an innovative way of tracing the life and death of neurons in culture favour one side of a debate about the protein accumulations associated with certain disorders of the nervous system.
Fruitflies can time their morning and evening activities to the day–night cycle. The basic circadian oscillatory mechanism is intracellular, but networks of cells, now being identified, are what make a working clock.
