Native Americans living in Oregon thousands of years ago did what came naturally before the advent of flush toilets (or the state of Oregon): They relieved themselves in a lakeside cave. Thanks to them, scientists now have samples of the oldest human DNA ever found in the New World.

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The latest in space-saving kitchen technology won’t pop your popcorn, but it could help nab criminals. A new micro-microwave, smaller than an ant, can heat pinhead-size drops of liquid to precise temperatures—critical for the kind of lab-on-a-chip devices investigators could someday use in the field for biological analyses such as DNA fingerprinting.

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The fishing industry discards thousands of tons of salmon sperm every year (it ruins the taste). Now Andrew Steckl, a photonics expert at the University of Cincinnati, has figured out how to use the refuse to get a 10-fold boost in the brightness of the organic light-emitting diodes used in cellphones, PDAs and some TVs.

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Last February, PopSci added a new name to its list of contributors: Jonathan Coulton, Contributing Troubadour. So who is this guy, and what is he doing to earn that unique title?

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Now that scientists can analyze the DNA of any species, they are discovering that many animals that look indistinguishable are actually quite different at the genetic level-different enough to be classified as separate species. That means there may be a lot more biological diversity on Earth than meets the eye.

For example, biologists at the University of California, Berkeley, recently reported the discovery of a new species of Mexican salamander, Lineatriton, that looks identical to another species living several hundred miles away. Only DNA testing can tell them apart.

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