Beauty sleep
Getting a good night鈥檚 sleep is key to looking attractive, according to a study at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Observers judged the faces of 23 sleep-deprived subjects as less healthy and less attractive than photos of the same people taken after a normal night鈥檚 rest ().
Having a long day?
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A newly identified chemical can lengthen the biological clocks of zebrafish by more than 10 hours. Dubbed 鈥渓ongdaysin鈥�, it targets three enzymes which act together to alter circadian rhythms. The discovery could aid development of drugs for sleeping disorders and jet lag (PLoS Biology, ).
Solar sail missing
NASA has failed to make contact with its solar sail NanoSail-D, which launched into orbit in November, folded inside the FASTSAT satellite. Engineers will now try to find out if it ever ejected from its parent craft.
The voyage continues
NASA鈥檚 Voyager 1 probe has crossed a new frontier, 33 years into its journey to the edge of the solar system and beyond. Since June, when it was 17 billion kilometres from the sun, it has stopped seeing particles in the solar wind streaming outwards. It is thought that pressure from incoming interstellar particles is pushing the solar wind sideways. Voyager 1 is expected to leave the solar system and enter interstellar space in four years.
Forensic changeover
The UK government has decided to close the state-owned Forensic Science Service, which analyses and interprets crime scene evidence for the police and other law-enforcement agencies. The FSS loses 拢2 million per month. Private-sector forensics consultancies will take over its work.