you spin me right round
For the first time in a laboratory set-
ting, physicists have linked the motion
of a particle with its spin. such “spin-
orbit coupling” could help researchers
build futuristic versions of devices
such as transistors. ian spielman, of
the Joint Quantum institute in gaith-
ersburg, Md., cooled rubidium atoms
to ultrachilly temperatures until they
formed a quantum liquid, then watched
as the atoms underwent spin-orbit cou-
pling. spielman reported the findings
on February 18. — Alexandra Witze
first foods become favorites
taste preferences can be set very
early in life, new studies reveal. babies
whose mothers fed them salty foods
between 2 and 6 months of age had
a stronger preference for salt at 6
months than did babies who hadn’t
eaten salty stuff, gary beauchamp of
the Monell Chemical senses Center in
Philadelphia reported February 19.
— Tina Hesman Saey
electrodes knock out depression
Electrodes implanted deep into the
brains of 20 people suffering from
severe depression improved symp-
toms for up to six years, researchers
reported February 18. three to six
years after neurosurgeons implanted
electrodes in patients’ brains, most still
showed gains: fewer signs of depres-
sion, better physical health and the
ability to hold down jobs. no late-devel-
oping side effects were evident from
the procedure, though two of the sub-
jects committed suicide during depres-
sive episodes, reported neuroscientist
Helen Mayberg of Emory University
school of Medicine in atlanta. the
implants are used to help people who
have not responded to other depres-
sion treatments. — Laura Sanders
www.sciencenews.org
“Lithium-ion batteries will continue to be the technology used
for the next 10 to 15 years in electric cars.” — Kristin Persson
extending a cosmic yardstick
a longer cosmic yardstick promises
to give astronomers a better grasp of
how fast the universe is expanding
and may offer clues to the nature of
dark energy, the mysterious entity that
accelerates that cosmic growth. new
measurements based on intense radio-
wave emissions peg the distance to
the galaxy ngC 6264 at 450 million
light-years with an accuracy of 9 per-
cent. Previous measurements used a
two-step, indirect method that is more
error-prone, notes James braatz of the
national radio astronomy Observatory
in Charlottesville, Va., who reported the
finding February 19. — Ron Cowen
guts in knots
the ancient romans, who thought the
future could be read in the complicated
shapes of animal entrails, had it all
wrong. these twists and kinks aren’t
nearly so complex, says L. Mahadevan
of Harvard University. He can reproduce
the gut’s loops, which come in regular
repeating intervals, with a simple rub-
ber tube stretched and then stitched
to a sheet of latex. Unconvinced by a
theory that blamed cramped space in
the abdominal cavity for these loops,
Mahadevan tested the idea that a
digestive tube growing faster than the
tissue connecting it to the body could
create a twisting force. “When the rub-
ber relaxes, we see a periodic structure
of loops that arises spontaneously,” he
said February 18. — Devin Powell
Lab jets may tackle cosmic blasts
Lab experiments that collide two jets of
positron-electron pairs may help physi-
cists identify the source of gamma-ray
bursts in distant galaxies, Hui Chen
of the Lawrence Livermore national
Laboratory in California proposed Feb-
ruary 18. researchers detect intense
flashes of gamma rays about once a
day, but no one knows their source.
Chen and colleagues reported last year
creating and controlling jets of elec-
trons and their antiparticles, positrons,
in the lab. now, she plans to whack
them into each other. the collision is
expected to create a shock wave that
will accelerate particles to high ener-
gies and emit radiation. if the signal
resembles that seen in space, it may
point to a culprit. — Elizabeth Quill
complex causes of cleft palates
a baby’s risk of being born with a cleft
palate may depend on both the child’s
genes and whether mom smoked,
drank or took vitamins during preg-
nancy. researchers examining genetic
risk combined with maternal smoking,
drinking and vitamin use found that
environmental factors can interact
with certain genes to raise or lower
risk of the malformation, genetic epi-
demiologist terri beaty of Johns Hop-
kins University in baltimore reported
on February 20. binge drinking and
smoking early in pregnancy interact
with some genes to raise the risk
of clefts. Multivitamins interact with
other genes to protect against clefts.
— Tina Hesman Saey
human brain hogs energy
Humans may have evolved to supply
the brain with energy at the expense
of other body parts. Creatine fuels
metabolism by storing energy over the
short term and releasing it quickly.
Molecular evidence from frozen tissue
samples suggests that, compared with
chimpanzees and rhesus macaques,
humans shuttle more creatine to the
brain and less to skeletal muscles.
greg Wray of Duke University in
Durham, n.C., reported the findings
February 20. they also appear in the
February Journal of Human Evolution.
— Alexandra Witze
