Radio and infrared images suggest that three nearby stars have recently spawned planets and might still be in the throes of forming a solar system.

Observations of rapid oscillations in the intensity of X rays emitted by a neutron star provide a novel test of Einstein's general theory of relativity.

A study of old museum eggs has revealed that shells started thinning in Britain at the time of the Industrial Revolution almost 50 years before the introduction of DDT.

Contrary to conservation biology dogma, the rare Fender’s blue butterfly may do better with patches of habitat than with a corridor linking potential sites.

Researchers have deciphered the method by which an ulcer-causing bacterium becomes resistant to the antibiotic used in Flagyl, MetroGel, and Protostat.

The three-dimensional structure of a receptor protein reveals how it allows cold viruses to enter cells.

High concentrations of a major stress hormone in the elderly may contribute to atrophy of a brain structure crucial to memory and spatial navigation.

Dolly, the famous cloned sheep, reportedly is pregnant.

Research Notes

Biology

A protein involved in the growth of embryonic brain cells may also play a role in blood vessel growth.

Scientists have found a way to turn on random genes in fruit flies.

The population of manatees in remote regions of Florida appears to be increasing, but populations on Florida’s populous southern Atlantic coast may be decreasing.

The World Conservation Union has issued the first worldwide list of threatened plants.

Biomedicine

When given daily between the ages of 8 and 14, somatropin increases growth but not psychological outlook, in short girls.

A genetic variation that limits production of key detoxifying enzymes increases women’s risk of developing breast cancer.

Physics

Fermilab physicists have discovered a long-sought meson consisting of a charm quark and an antibottom quark.

The most accurate set of measurements to date established the half-life of titanium-44 as 59.2 years.

Superfluidity can occur in a cluster consisting of as few as 60 helium-4 atoms.

 Fresh samples from the Red Planet

Relying on a trio of small missions, NASA expects by 2008 to have gathered, stored, and carried to Earth bits of rock and soil from Mars.

Young kids grasp new words with intriguing dexterity

The apparent ease with which 2-year-olds learn new words may reflect their budding social insights about adults' intentions.