Here it is shown, both theoretically and experimentally, that non-local correlations between entangled quantum particles can be used for a new cryptographic application — the generation of certified private random numbers — that is impossible to achieve classically. The results have implications for future device-independent quantum information experiments and for addressing fundamental issues regarding the randomness of quantum theory

It has been thought that ocean temperatures during the early Palaeoarchaean era (around 3.5 billion years ago) were 55–85 °C. But a recent study indicated that the temperatures might be no higher than 40 °C. Here, studies are reported of the oxygen isotope compositions of phosphates in sediments from the 3.2–3.5-billion-year-old Barberton Greenstone Belt in South Africa. The findings indicate a well-developed phosphorus cycle and evolved biological activity in an Archaean ocean with temperatures of 26–35 °C

Complex heritable traits — such as human height and many human diseases — are caused by multiple genetic loci, each with small effects. It is hard to identify such loci, however, because of a lack of statistical power. Now, a method has been developed to overcome this problem. The method has been applied to chemical resistance traits and mitochondrial function in yeast, and has identified loci for each of these phenotypes