Say What? gyrochronology \ jai-roh-kron-AH-lo-gee\ n. The measurement of a star’s age by clocking its spin rate. Usually researchers can date stars only by looking at them in a cluster and finding ones that have reached a distinctive point in their evolution. But most stars also spin more slowly as they age, like a top spinning on a table, Søren Meibom of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics reported May 23

at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Boston. The finding could
help astronomers estimate the ages of solo stars — which are thought to
be more likely to host planets (as illustrated above) — using the stars’ color
and rotation rate. — Camille M. Carlisle

SN Online

www.sciencenews.org

ATOM & COSMOS
Japan’s Hayabusa space-
craft has returned to
Earth with the first-ever
scrapings taken from an
asteroid. Find out what
the specks of dust reveal
in “Asteroid sample nails
meteorite source.”

Science Past | FROM THE ISSUE OF SEPTEMBER 23, 1961

ALGAE COULD PROVIDE OXYGEN FOR SPACEMAN — Minute
plant life that form the common green scum found on
the surface of stagnant ponds and in river beds, Chlorella
algae, assisted by the sun, may provide
the future man in space with the oxy-
gen essential to maintain life. A new gas
exchange device operating on the prin-
ciple of photosynthesis was designed and
demonstrated by Lt. Col. John B. Fulton
of the U.S. Air Force Arctic Aeromedical
Laboratory, Fairbanks, Alaska. The algae using the energy
of the sun convert the carbon dioxide exhaled by the astro-
naut into oxygen which is breathed in and exhaled again as
carbon dioxide, the process being repeated indefinitely.

How Bizarre

Single prairie voles are more likely than partnered voles to succumb to drug addiction. Social bonds are thought to protect against addiction in people, too, but how that works physiologically has been a mystery. Now researchers led by Zuoxin Wang of Florida State University in Tallahassee report that male voles in a monogamous relationship eschew amphetamine, while single males find it strongly rewarding. In both groups, amphetamine causes nerve cells to release the feel-good messenger dopamine. But in partnered voles, other nerve cells don’t scoop up this dopamine as well, the team notes in the June 1 Journal of Neuroscience. — Laura Sanders

October 1 Afraid of the dark? The Boston Museum of Science’s “In the Dark” exhibit shows the wonders of caves, the deep ocean and more. Visit www.mos.org

October 9–15 Earth Science Week explores “Our Ever-Changing Earth” with events and activities around the world. Learn what’s near you at www.earthsciweek.org

October 14–21 The Imagine Science Film Festival in New York City brings science to the big screen. Visit imaginescience; lms.com for detailed listings.

LIFE A young elephant shows off its ability to have an “aha” moment by finding a way to reach fruit just out of reach. Learn more and see a video of the problem solver in action in “Young elephant struck by idea.”

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: DAVID A. AGUILAR/HARVARD-SMITHSONIAN CFA; ISAS, JAXA; GRAPHIC: MAUREEN ARNSON; BRUCE S. CUSHING/VISUALS UNLIMITED

HUMANS Human ancestors may have picked up genes that impart an immune system boost by canoodling with Neandertals and other hominid cousins long ago. Read more in “Beneficial liaisons.”