Genetic error led humans to evolve bigger, but more vulnerable, brains
Newly-discovered genes that helped supersize human brains along with DNA retrieved from extinct humans, which can still be found in people living today, are...
Enigmatic African fossils rewrite story of when lemurs got to Madagascar
Discovered more than half a century ago in Kenya and sitting in museum storage ever since, the roughly 20-million-year-old fossil Propotto leakeyi was long...
Optogenetics – controlling neurons with light – may lead to cures for PTSD, Alzheimer’s
Through the emerging field of optogenetics, a technology that allows genetically modified neurons in living tissue to be precisely controlled by means of light,...
Ecosystems are getting greener in the Arctic
In recent decades, scientists have noted a surge in Arctic plant growth as a symptom of climate change. But without observations showing exactly when...
Infant exoplanet weighed by Hipparcos and Gaia
The mass of a very young exoplanet has been revealed for the first time using data from ESA's star mapping spacecraft Gaia and its...
Leaves possess a molecular compass
Leaves provide us with food, forest canopies and football fields. Every leaf grows from only a few cells.
But what guides these cells to become...
Super-resolution microscopy: Getting even closer to the limit
Ralf Jungmann is interested in processes that take place within unbelievably tiny spatial dimensions. Jungmann holds a professorship in experimental physics at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU)...
Understanding of light momentum: Researchers shine a light on 150-year old mystery
The idea that light has momentum is not new, but the exact nature of how light interacts with matter has remained a mystery for...
Ice confirmed at the Moon’s poles
In the darkest and coldest parts of its polar regions, a team of scientists has directly observed definitive evidence of water ice on the...
Militarization of police fails to enhance safety, may harm police reputation
This month marks the four-year anniversary of protests over the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, an incident met with a heavily...
New kind of aurora is not an aurora at all
Thin ribbons of purple and white light that sometimes appear in the night sky were dubbed a new type of aurora when brought to...
