Stem cell fraud?
A committee at the RIKEN Centre for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan, has said that research papers purporting to demonstrate a groundbreaking method for producing embryonic-like stem cells contain manipulated or falsified images. RIKEN singled out lead author Haruko Obokata, who has said she will appeal the ruling.
Comet bot awakens
Rise and shine, Philae. The came out of hibernation last week to begin preparations for a landing on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November. Even after three years in hibernation, Philae had a lie in – the Rosetta spacecraft carrying it woke up in January.
The first Silk Road
Ancient nomads were shepherding domestic crops back and forth between south-west Asia and what is now China 5000 years ago. Charred grains of barley, millet and wheat at campsites in Kazakhstan reveal the produce being transported ().
Dwarf planet bonanza
Pluto’s posse just keeps getting bigger. On 31 March, astronomers reported the discovery of an object about 1000 kilometres wide in the Kuiper belt, the outer solar system zone that hosts most of the known dwarf planets. Called for now, the object is big enough to be a potential dwarf planet, provided it is massive enough to be nearly round.
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Tubercular toms
Cat owners beware. Kiss your mog and you could catch TB. The following cases of humans catching bovine tuberculosis from pet cats. Nine cats in the same area tested positive, six of which died. Of 24 people screened, two tested positive and are being treated.
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