Reliable prediction of El Nino response to global warming is difficult, as El Nino varies naturally over decades and centuries. Instrumental records are too short to determine whether recent changes are natural or attributable to increased greenhouse gases. An international team of scientists now show that recent El Nino activity is the highest for the past 700 years, possibly a response to global warming.

Scientists have identified the neuronal circuits in the spinal cord of mice that control the ability to produce the alternating movements of the legs during walking. The study demonstrates that two genetically-defined groups of nerve cells are in control of limb alternation at different speeds of locomotion, and thus that the animals’ gait is disturbed when these cell populations are missing.

Researchers have built a matchbox-sized device that can test for the presence of bacteria in a couple of minutes, instead of up to several weeks. This might be a crucial medical tool especially for resistant strains.

What allows certain plants to survive freezing and thrive in the Canadian climate, while others are sensitive to the slightest drop in temperature? Those that flourish activate specific genes at just the right time — but the way gene activation is controlled remains poorly understood.