Editor's picks: Gravity waves bite the dust, chicks' number bias, ancient solar system, new Ebola vaccine tests, & 10 mysteries for the 21st century

Science News Editor's Picks 02/01/15

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NEWS Dust erases evidence for gravity wave detection BY ANDREW GRANT The claimed detection of primordial gravitational waves does not hold up after taking into account galactic dust, a new analysis concludes. Read More Read More»

NEWS Chicks show left-to-right number bias BY SUSAN MILIUS Recently hatched chicks may have their own version of the left-to-right mental number line. Read More Read More»

NEWS Oldest solar system unearthed by Kepler BY CHRISTOPHER CROCKETT Five rocky planets orbit the 11.2-billion-year-old star Kepler 444, suggesting that Earth-sized worlds formed in the early universe. Read More Read More»

NEWS Snakes crawled among Jurassic dinosaurs, new timeline says BY KATE BAGGALEY Earliest snake fossils provide evidence snakes evolved their flexible skulls before their long, limbless bodies. Read More Read More»

CONTEXT Top 10 scientific mysteries for the 21st century BY TOM SIEGFRIED Solving the Top 10 scientific mysteries facing the 21st century will not be all fun but could be mostly games. Read More Read More»

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More Headlines from Science News SCIENCE TICKER Ebola vaccine performs well in U.K. human trial A vaccine that protects against the Zaire strain of Ebola turns in promising preliminary results from a human trial. Read More BY HELEN THOMPSON NEWS Newly identified brain circuit could be target for treating obesity In mice, specific nerve cells control compulsive sugar consumption, but not normal feeding, hinting at a new therapeutic target for treating obesity. Read More BY ASHLEY YEAGER NEWS IN BRIEF Israeli fossil may recast history of first Europeans New find suggests humans mated with Neandertals in Middle East before taking on Europe. Read More BY BRUCE BOWER NEWS Sodium and other alkali explosions finally explained A high-speed camera snaps sharp details of how alkali metals explode in water -- a classic, but until now, not fully explained chemical reaction. Read More BY BETH MOLE GROWTH CURVE Even when correct, diagnoses can harm kids Overdiagnosis is well documented in adults but is often overlooked in children and can lead to unnecessary treatments. Read More BY LILA GUTERMAN