Science News - USA (2021-03-13)

http://www.sciencenews.org | March 13, 2021 1

FROM TOP: GLENN HARVEY; MARTINA CECCHETTI; D. TAKEI

ET AL

, NASA, CXC, RIKEN (X-RAY),

STSCI, NASA (OPTICAL), VLA/NRAO (RADIO)

VOL. 199 | NO. 5

News

8

Departments

2 EDITOR’S NOTE

4 NOTEBOOK

Simple steps may temper

domestic cats’ desire to

hunt; a tiny chameleon fits

on a human fingertip

29 REVIEWS & PREVIEWS

Beloved Beasts charts the

conservation movement’s

past and looks ahead

31 FEEDBACK

32 SCIENCE VISUALIZED

A map paints a picture

of wildfire destruction

near Los Angeles

Features

16 Our Brains, Our Futures

Three fantastical tales of where neuroscience

might take us are based on the progress made

by brain researchers in the last 100 years.

By Laura Sanders

24 Building an Inclusive Genome

COVER STORY If precision medicine is to help all

people, then genetic databases need DNA from

groups beyond those of European descent. One

researcher’s suggestion for making this happen

has pros and cons. By Tina Hesman Saey

16

COVER Expanding DNA

databases to include a

broader mix of people

may reveal more variants

relevant to some common

diseases. Delphine Lee

6 The oldest recovered

animal DNA comes from

mammoths that lived

over 1 million years ago

7 Diversifying police

departments may lead

to better treatment of

minorities

8 The Milky Way witnesses

about four dozen nova

explosions each year

Designer molecules help

physicists fashion more

versatile quantum bits

9 Key evidence for the

existence of Planet Nine

is called into question

in a new study

10 Genes that escape from

fields of modified cotton

can disrupt wild plants’

interactions with insects

12 Migrants from Wales

may have brought some

of the stones to make

Stonehenge

The first known black

hole is more massive

than originally thought

13 A parasitic plant pilfers

genes from its hosts

14 Snug masks can reduce

the coronavirus’ spread

4

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