News to Note, November 3, 2007

1. Neanderthals: the New Red-Heads

It’s a common caricature in textbooks, movies, and—more true than ever today—TV shows: a brow-ridged, (often) club-carrying Neanderthal, covered in thick, messy red hair.

2. Ice Caps on the Equator (of Mars)

The existence of water on Mars is once again on scientists’ minds, this time because of new high-resolution radar images of the red planet.

3. Dark Matter No Longer Required?

Dark matter, a moderately evil-sounding, hypothesized component that is described as helping hold galaxies together, was all the rage just a few months ago. Now, a team of two astrophysicists is arguing that their modified theory of gravity explains the data and leaves no role for dark matter.

4. The Seal of Queen Jezebel

An ancient seal discovered in 1964 has been confirmed as belonging to the notorious Queen Jezebel, according to an Old Testament scholar.

5. Tortoise Shell Rights Itself

Everyone knows that tortoises aren’t exactly nature’s most agile creatures. The plodding manner of the reptiles is fabled, and we haven’t heard of any arrests for illegal tortoise fighting.