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Scientists have discovered that clusters of aluminum atoms impersonate different elements, depending on how many atoms make up the group. Findings published today in the journal Science suggest that the clusters could be tailored to achieve desirable properties, such as conductivity. Shiv N. Khanna of Virginia Commonwealth University and his colleagues analyzed the geometry, electronic structure and chemical properties of bunches of 13 and 14 aluminum atoms. They also tested the groupings experimentally by reacting them with iodine atoms....

For the first time, archaeologists have been able to map and image the sunken fleet of seaplanes destroyed in a prelude to the Pearl Harbor attack 74 years ago. To commemorate the anniversary, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Hawaii (U.H.) have released rare images of one of the sunken planes today. The Empire of Japan’s attack on the U.S. naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killed 2,403 U....

CLIMATEWIRE | Helium concentrations are rising in the atmosphere, according to new research that confirms a long-held suspicion about the byproduct of fossil fuel production. The findings—published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience—are yet another indicator of the world’s reliance on fossil fuels. Helium isn’t a greenhouse gas, but it is a byproduct of the production of fossil fuels, particularly natural gas. The study’s findings may seem obvious. But for years, scientists have had some difficulty demonstrating that helium levels are actually increasing alongside greenhouse gas....

By Susanna Twidale LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions fell 1.9 percent in 2013 due to a decline in fossil-fuel power generation, preliminary government data showed on Thursday. Output of the heat-trapping gases in Europe’s second-largest emitter dipped to 569.9 million metric tons compared to 581.1 million metric tons in 2012, data from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) showed. Carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas blamed for climate change, accounted for 82 percent of 2013 emissions and fell 2....

Natural gas production and carbon sequestration may be headed for an underground collision course. That is the message from a new study finding that many of the same shale rock formations where companies want to extract gas also happen to sit above optimal sites envisioned for storing carbon dioxide underground that is captured from power plants and industrial facilities. The problem with this overlap, the researchers found, is that shale-gas extraction involves fracturing rock that could be needed as an impenetrable cover to hold CO2 underground permanently and prevent it from leaking back into the atmosphere....

Despite science’s best efforts to explore the ocean, the vast bulk of its depths remains unseen. The seas add up to more than 1.3 billion cubic kilometers—enough to fill a sphere one tenth as wide as the earth—and expensive tools such as depth-defying submarines and swimming drones would have to hit the waves in huge numbers to cover even a fraction of that water. But living creatures such as moon jellyfish already pervade the oceans, and now researchers at the California Institute of Technology and Stanford University are trying to turn these flimsy organisms into controllable cyborgs....

Key Concepts Physics Optics Light Reflection Introduction Have you ever visited a house of mirrors and seen a wacky-looking version of yourself? In this activity you can construct your own miniature house of mirrors. Try it out and see what funny reflections you can make! Background We see an object when light reflected from the object shines into our eyes. From that input of light, the brain uses the eyes’ signals to reconstruct a picture of the object....

ATHENS (Reuters) - A strong earthquake shook southern Greece on Friday and was felt as far as Athens but there were no immediate reports of casualties or serious damage. The quake measured 5.7 in magnitude, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and struck at sea 80 miles south of the Greek capital. It was 70 miles deep. No tsunami warning was issued. The Athens Geodynamic Institute also put the quake, which occurred at 0645 local time (2345 ET Thursday), at 5....

Dear EarthTalk: What is the “de-extinction” movement all about?—Bill Mitchell, New York City De-extinction—bringing back extinct animal and plant species—is a term that conservation biologists and environmentalists have been bandying about for a decade or so. But only recently have advances in genetic sequencing and molecular biology transformed de-extinction from theory into something that we are all likely to see in our own lifetimes. Or so Revive & Restore, a project of the Stewart Brand’s California-based non-profit Long Now Foundation, likes to think....

WASHINGTON — If you’ve ever seen the astonishing array of infant formula sold in supermarkets, you might wonder if the stuff can really make your baby smarter, allergy-proof, or less colicky, as advertised. The Food and Drug Administration wonders the same thing. On Thursday, the FDA suggested that the $3 billion infant formula industry consider proving its claims before selling the products. In an unusual move, the agency served up a set of scientific standards for infant formula manufacturers to meet, before touting their products for treatment or prevention of certain medical conditions....

By Geoff Brumfiel of Nature magazine Using spare chemicals, a laser bought on eBay and angst from a late-night argument, physicists have got the world’s first room-temperature microwave laser working. The achievement comes nearly 60 years after the first clunky versions of such devices were built, and could revolutionize communication and space exploration. The work is published this week in Nature. Before there were lasers, there were microwave lasers, or masers....

A gene called auf1 seems to protect against septic shock in mice, a new study finds. Animals lacking the gene were more likely to undergo shock, suggesting that the gene helps keep the immune system’s response to infections in check. Researchers hope to discover whether different forms of auf1 and related genes make people more likely to suffer autoimmune disease or life-threatening reactions to infections such as anthrax or flu....

Treating social phobia without personal contact between patient and therapist—or without any therapist involvement at all—could be viewed as ironic, but two recent studies suggest that it works. Self-guided online therapy may offer relief for a wide range of disorders. The first study, published in the October 2010 issue of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, found that self-guided, Internet-based cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) reduced social phobia symptoms in most of the participants....

Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him. And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one....

The plaster face cast of a large-nosed Neanderthal stares out into space. The extra cavities in his sinus helped trap air, which was subsequently humidified. There’s nothing quite like having a warm pocket of air close to the brain to keep away the chill of the ice age, says Rick Potts, head of the Human Origins Program at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The skulls of our closest ancestors tell the tale of human origins and the closeness of our evolutionary history to climate change, Potts said....

The hallmarks of a warming climate, heavier rains, more severe droughts, rising sea levels and longer growing seasons, are spreading a variety of pathogens throughout the world. Malaria is moving to the highlands. Lyme disease is spreading across the U.S. Northeast and eastern Canada. Outbreaks of cholera will increase with more unsafe water. Those are three of the diseases that are becoming part of a growth field in medical research amid concerns that tropical diseases are moving north and south and that progress made to improve health conditions in previous decades might be undone....

PANAMA Vampire bats monitored at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute have fewer interactions with family and friends when ill, biologists say. But they do not seem to stay apart intentionally—instead sick bats are simply too lethargic to call out to or groom one another. CANADA The last fully intact ice shelf in Canada collapsed into the Arctic Ocean this summer. Located in the territory of Nunavut, the Milne Ice Shelf lost 80 square kilometers of ice—40 percent of its area—in just two days....

According to standard physics textbooks, quantum mechanics is the theory of the microscopic world. It describes particles, atoms and molecules but gives way to ordinary classical physics on the macroscopic scales of pears, people and planets. Somewhere between molecules and pears lies a boundary where the strangeness of quantum behavior ends and the familiarity of classical physics begins. The impression that quantum mechanics is limited to the microworld permeates the public understanding of science....

Peanuts are part of cuisines worldwide. Whether as an oil or butter, a snack or an ingredient in savory and sweet dishes, it is easy to find this legume—most often thought of as a nut—in many dishes. But where does it come from? Its origin seems to be in South America, specifically Bolivia, according to new studies. The modern peanut (Arachis hypogaea) is the result of the hybridization of two older types of Andean peanut....

If drinking red wine gives you a headache, you’ve probably had someone tell you that sulfites are the likely culprit. Perhaps you’ve been advised to stick to white wine, organic wines, or wines made in Europe on the grounds that these will be lower in sulfites. Let’s clear up some of the most common myths and misunderstandings about sulfites, wine, and headaches. Sulfites in Wine First, a little background: Sulphur dioxide (or SO2) is a chemical compound made up of sulfur and oxygen....