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You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. And you shouldn’t judge a species by its place of origin

By Marian Turner of Nature magazine Munich Confronted with what has become one of the world's most severe outbreaks of Escherichia coli, physicians and scientists in Germany say that the country's fractured health-management system has failed to handle the crisis properly.

PGT: After much speculation, Tiger Woods announced on Tuesday that he will not play in the 111th U.S.

By Matt Kaplan of Nature magazine Archaeologists have long thought that Homo erectus, humanity's first ancestor to spread around the world, evolved in Africa before dispersing throughout Europe and Asia. [More]

By Priya Shetty of Nature magazine South African teenagers could pocket as much as 2,700 rand (US$400) over the next 18 months in exchange for staying HIV-free.

By Geoff Brumfiel of Nature magazine A team of physicists is claiming to have coaxed sparks from the vacuum of empty space. [More]

By Edwin Cartlidge of Nature magazine An international group of physicists has found a way of measuring both the position and the momentum of photons passing through the double-slit experiment, upending the idea that it is impossible to measure both properties in the lab at the same time. In the classic double-slit experiment, first done more than 200 years ago, light waves passing through two parallel slits create a characteristic pattern of light and dark patches on a screen positioned behind the slits.

By Ewen Callaway of Nature magazine Fossilized teeth of early human ancestors bear signs that females left their families when they came of age, whereas males stayed close to home. A chemical analysis of australopithecine fossils ranging between roughly 1.8 million and 2.2 million years old from two South African caves finds that teeth thought to belong to females are more likely to have incorporated minerals from a distant region during formation than those from males

By Heidi Ledford of Nature magazine An analysis of nearly three-dozen highly cited papers has found that researchers often overstate the link between biomarkers and disease by citing papers that report the strongest association, even when subsequent analyses downplay the connection. [More]

By Zeeya Merali of Nature magazine It could turn out to be a milestone for quantum computing. [More]

By Jo Marchant of Nature magazine A Roman ship found with a lead pipe piercing its hull has mystified archaeologists. [More]

By Geoff Brumfiel of Nature magazine St-Paul-lez-Durance, France The world's largest fusion experiment is finally beginning to take shape. [More]

By Quirin Schiermeier of Nature magazine Radiation released by the tsunami-struck Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant could have long-lasting consequences for the natural environment in the vicinity of the damaged plant. Scientists estimate that in the first 30 days after the accident on 11 March, trees, birds and forest-dwelling mammals were exposed to daily doses up to 100 times greater-and fish and marine algae to doses several thousand times greater - than are generally considered safe. Radioecologists with the French Institute of Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (ISRN) in Cadarache converted concentrations of radioisotopes measured in the soil and seawater into the actual doses that various groups of wildlife were likely to have received

By Sharon Weinberger of Nature magazine Planning a sojourn in the northeastern United States? You could soon be taking part in a novel security program that can supposedly 'sense' whether you are planning to commit a crime. Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST), a US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program designed to spot people who are intending to commit a terrorist act, has in the past few months completed its first round of field tests at an undisclosed location in the northeast, Nature has learned

By Nicola Nosengo of Nature magazine Six Italian seismologists and one government official will be tried for the manslaughter of those who died in the earthquake that struck the city of L'Aquila on 6 April 2009. The seven were on a committee that had been tasked with assessing the risk associated with recent increases in seismic activity in the area. [More]