Genes turn on, fluids go surfing, radioactivity spills from a cosmic collision and an oceanic plate crashes the party at Earth's mantle. It's your weekly briefing on the latest discoveries you might not hear about anywhere else, all with funding from the National Science Foundation. For more information, refer to these news articles:

1. Imaging in living cells reveals how ‘junk DNA’ switches on a gene
2. Soundwave-surfing droplets
3. Pair of colliding stars spill radioactive molecules into space
4. Virginia Tech scientist: Yellowstone super-volcano eruptions were produced by gigantic ancient oceanic plate

Fast Blast from the Past

Your weekly briefing on the latest discoveries you might not hear about anywhere else, from astronomy to zoology -- all with government funding from the National Science Foundation.