Lab Notes: Mystery skeletons and auroras

This week's biggest stories Genetics / Tests reveal tragic reality of Atacama 'alien' skeleton Education / Selective schools make no difference to GCSE results, study says Brain scans / Helmet-shaped brain scanner allows wearers to move around Stephen Hawking / Ashes to be buried near Newton at Westminster Abbey Food / Obesity dulls sense of taste, study suggests Insects / Cockroaches' DNA reveals why they thrive in filthy places Virus / Risk on planes is lower than you might think, study says Blindness / Doctors hope for cure after restoring patients' sight Microbiology / Wide range of drugs affect growth of gut microbes, study says From the science blog network Lost Worlds Revisited / How the earliest plants made our world muddy The Past and the Curious / Breffu: a slave, a rebel, a fighter – and a woman almost invisible to history Life and Physics / Modelling the fourth colour: dispatch from de Moriond Podcasts A Neuroscientist Explains / Psychology's replication crisis The Guardian's Science Weekly / What do the chemical signatures of deadly nerve agents tell us about their origins? Eye on science 'Steve' / The mystery purple aurora that rivals the northern lights The phenomenon of 'Steve' – a glowing arc seen in Alberta, Canada by amateur scientists – has now been named by Nasa Where to find us Twitter: @guardianscience | @guardiansciblog Facebook: Guardian Science Guardian News & Media Limited - a member of Guardian Media Group PLC. Registered Office: Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU. Registered in England No. 908396