Indiana University

Whereas the Milky Way contains anywhere from 100 to 400 billion stars, our home planet may host as many as one trillion species – the vast majority of which are microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. What's more amazing is that we've discovered only a thousandth of a percent of them all.

It had to happen sooner or later; robots have replaced infants... at least, as subjects in psychological research being conducted at Indiana University. The robots are being used to study how infants learn and have revealed that posture and body position are important factors in early learning.

Indiana University biologists claim to have found a quicker, cheaper, cleaner way to increase production in bioethanol-producing microbes using nitrogen gas. This could replace chemical fertilizers and make the cost of cellulose ethanol competitive with that of corn ethanol and gasoline.

By molecularly combining three hormones to form a new peptide, researchers have effectively cured obesity and adult-onset diabetes in rodents, with human trials of the molecule now planned.

A computer simulation lets scientists investigate the solar alignments of the artefacts making up the Campus Martius, a site built in 9 BCE to celebrate peace brought by Augustus Caesar. Two thousand years after the emperor's death, a new light is cast on what the site signified.