A selection of this week’s stories from Science’s policy blog
Celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth with a series of essays on evolution
Continue reading about Announcing Origins, Science’s New Evolution Blog
That pesky buzz of a nearby mosquito is the sound of love, scientists have known for some time. But a new study reports that males and females flap their wings and change their tune to create a harmonic duet just before mating.
Continue reading about Mosquitoes Create Harmonic Love Song Before Mating, Study Finds
Oxytocin, a hormone involved in child-birth and breast-feeding, helps people recognize familiar faces, according to new research in the Journal of Neuroscience. Study participants who had one dose of an oxytocin nasal spray showed improved recognition memory for faces, but not for inanimate objects.
Continue reading about Hormone Improves Human Ability To Recognize Faces But Not Places
The enzyme machine that translates a cell’s DNA code into the proteins of life is nothing if not an editorial perfectionist.
Continue reading about The Ribosome: Perfectionist Protein-maker Trashes Errors
Patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease who received deep brain stimulation treatment had more improvement in movement skills and quality of life after six months than patients who received other medical therapy, but also had a higher risk of a serious adverse events, according to a new study.
The study of ancient microbes may not seem consequential, but such pioneering research has implications for the state of modern human health. New results raise questions about the microbes living on and within people.
Continue reading about Understanding Extinct Microbes May Influence The State Of Modern Human Health
One reason racism persists is that many people imagine they would respond strongly to a racist act but actually respond with indifference, a new study shows. The study, being published just days before the inauguration of America’s first black president, found that people overestimate how strongly they would react to racist comments.
Continue reading about Surprisingly High Tolerance For Racism Revealed
Our home galaxy is rotating about 100,000 miles per hour faster than previously thought, meaning its mass is 50 percent greater. This makes it even with the Andromeda Galaxy, and no longer the “little sister” in our local group of galaxies.
Continue reading about Milky Way A Swifter Spinner, More Massive, New Measurements Show
‘New blood’ can revitalize a company or a sports team. New research now finds that young blood does a body good as well, especially when it comes to fighting cancer.