Software package makes gene regulation easier to study—and tweak

Slow roiling convection currents deep within Earth's mantle, which are associated with the movements of tectonic plates, also deform the material of the mantle itself. Now, a new study in The Seismic Record confirms that much of this deformation in the lowest level of the mantle occurs where researchers think there may be deeply subducted tectonic slabs.

If you don't have anything nice to say, perhaps it's OK to say it anyway—if responding to someone who has treated you or your team rudely, new Cornell research suggests. Civil responses to disrespectful behavior remain the best option. But in a variety of contexts—from hockey fights to the workplace—experiments showed that people view an uncivil action or comment more leniently when performed as retaliation rather than instigation. Retaliating in kind to incivility may be appreciated as much as

A new study by Harvard biologists reveals how octopuses feel their way to potential mates with a "taste by touch" sensory system and can even couple at arm's length without actually seeing each other. In a study featured on the cover of Science, the researchers deciphered how one male appendage serves as a multipurpose organ for seeking, sensing, and seeding—and even continues to respond to female sex hormones after being severed from the body.

EPFL scientists have discovered that a simple shape change in mitochondria helps cells evenly distribute their mitochondrial DNA, solving a long-standing puzzle.