Bright eyes
Here鈥檚 an experiment to try at home. Simply imagining light or dark images, like a sunny sky or a dimly lit room, causes pupils to change size. That鈥檚 despite the fact that pupil size is a physical response that a person cannot directly control (Psychological Science, ).
Weedkiller retraction
A controversial paper linking cancers in rats with exposure to a genetically modified maize called NK603, or to the weedkiller glyphosate, has been withdrawn by the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology. A panel deemed the results inconclusive. Lead author Gilles-Eric S茅ralini of the University of Caen, France, called the verdict 鈥渦nacceptable鈥�.
Stanene is wonder stuff
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Move over, graphene. The one-atom-thick form of carbon, famed for its conductive abilities, may soon have a rival in the form of stanene, a single layer of tin atoms. Though it doesn鈥檛 yet exist, calculations suggest that stanene 鈥� from the Latin for tin, stannum 鈥� might conduct electricity with 100 per cent efficiency, leading to low-power computer chips.
Plastic not fantastic
Poor worms. Tiny particles of plastic that are ingested by lugworms can transfer pollutants into their guts, causing problems such as an inability to eat. Since these worms make up a large percentage of the biomass of a shoreline, this shift in consumption has consequences for the ecosystem (Current Biology, ).
Sperm-free semen
The latest attempt at male contraception is a technique that leaves sperm out of semen. Male mice lacking proteins vital for the mechanism that squirts sperm into the seminal fluid fathered no young, although the sperm worked normally when extracted from the mice. Similar muscle inhibitors could be made into pills (PNAS, ).
