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Violence stunts growth

Children born in Iraq’s most violent areas are on average 0.8 centimetres shorter than their peers born in more peaceful areas. A team led by Gabriela Guerrero-Serdan from Royal Holloway, University of London, say this indicates poor nutrition early on in life or before birth. This can lead to health problems and learning difficulties later.

Truffle trove

Just unearthed are the genetic secrets of one of the world’s most gastronomically prized foods, the Périgord black truffle. Among the truffle’s 7500 genes are ones that make pheromones attracting animals such as boars and squirrels. They eat the fungus and spread spores in their faeces (Nature, ).

Shuttle lingers

The final flight of the space shuttle will probably be postponed until January 2011. So says a report by NASA’s Office of the Inspector General, the agency’s watchdog. NASA should make sure funding will be available, says the report.

Expensive eggs

Women at US universities are routinely offered more for their eggs than the $10,000 limit suggested by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. One-quarter of 300 advertisements in college newspapers offered more, according to Aaron Levine of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Exact sums depended on their university’s academic rating.

Hyenas’ ha ha

The spotted hyena’s signature giggle is more than a simple taunt. The pitch of the giggle reveals a hyena’s age, while the frequency of notes can encode information about the giggler’s social dominance (BMC Ecology, in press). The researchers think this allows hyenas to establish feeding rights.