Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 7 February.

The fact that autism seems to affect more boys than girls is often attributed to diagnostic gaps, but the skew remains largely unexplained. Some scientists are turning to basic biology for answers.

Konstantinos “Kostas” Zarbalis talks about the upside of unexpected experimental results, and why he eats just one meal per day.

In this edition of Null and Noteworthy, researchers replicate encouraging findings on autism and aging and shoot down a host of potential links between pregnancy complications and having a child with autism.

A modified version of a probe commonly used in animals detected neuronal activity across different cortical layers in three people undergoing brain surgery.

The Rett Syndrome Global Registry is gathering data from people around the world with the rare condition to support clinical trials.

The connection is likely mediated by environmental, not genetic, factors, according to a new study.

Pick up threads about how remote learning can benefit autistic students, why a study about screen time deserves scrutiny and how a newly discovered form of cellular communication could yield clues about autism.

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 31 January.

By automatically quantifying gait and posture in videos of mice, a new machine-learning tool could accelerate research on how autism-linked mutations or drug treatments affect motor skills.