June 24 Last day to see the Picturing Science exhibit on high-tech imaging at New York City’s American Museum of Natural History. See bit.ly/SFpicsci June 15 The Exploratorium in San Francisco invites visitors to make their own toys at Explorables: Science You Can Play With. See bit.ly/SFsciplay (p. 4)

Ethics of humanized mice The recent stories “Human cells rev up mouse brains” (SN: 4/6/13, p. 16) and “Of mice and man” (SN: 3/23/13, p. 22) drove home to me that human-animal hybrids are now reality. In science fiction stories with such hybrids, a big part of the plot is the resultant ethical gray area: There are certain standards for animal research, and much stricter standards for human research. What standards apply to animals that have a significant payload of human cells? Brain research has the most obvious ethical implications, but what makes a “human” is complex and prob... (p. 31)

The atmosphere whistles while scientists work. Series of whistles — short or long, going up scale or down — keep radio scientists busy deciphering their messages of the density of charged particles in the outer regions of the earth’s atmosphere.… Generated by lightning as it strikes the earth, the radio waves are propagated back and forth in the atmosphere of the earth, in a north-south direction…. By analyzing the duration of the whistle tone, the length of time it lasts, and the changes as it slides up or down the musical scale … scientists could construct a model of the earth’... (p. 4)

GENES & CELLS See a roundup of some of the latest discoveries about China’s H7N9 virus in “New bird flu claims more victims.” ENVIRONMENT Lake Erie is loaded with tiny pieces of plastic containing toxic pollutants. Read “Puny plastic particles mar Lake Erie’s waters.” HUMANS Male attractiveness relies on a combination of body parts. See “Penis size does matter.” CULTURE BEAKER Rachel Ehrenberg analyzes how a CEO misunderstood shoppers in “The psychology of J.C. Penney.” (p. 4)

May 29 The World Science Festival opens in New York City. Learn more at bit.ly/SFwsf2013 May 31 Learn about wildflowers at Botany Washington at Seattle’s Burke Museum. See bit.ly/SFwf2013 June 2 Get tips on model rocket construction and safety at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. See bit.ly/SFrocket (p. 4)