December 14–18 The American Geophysical Union meets in San Francisco. See www.agu.org/meetings January 10–14 Researchers convene in Washington, D.C. to discuss threats posed by invasive species. Go to www.nisaw.org for agenda February 16 Deadline to submit videos about the personal impacts of neurological illnesses to the 2010 Neuro Film Festival. See www.neurofilmfestival.com (p. 4)

INSECTS WINNING RESISTANCE BATTLE — Insects appear to be winning the costly battle — $500,000 is spent each year on control — to keep them in check. Resistance to insecticides is now virtually nation-wide according to results of an extensive study.… Resistance can take many forms, research has shown. Some of these are: slow rate of absorption which prevents the insect’s getting a lethal dose of insecticide ... or, avoidance of the insecticide such as is seen by some insects changing their normal habitat. The chemical industry, which produced some 575,000,000 pounds of pesticid... (p. 4)

Jovian scars Page 8 of the August 29, 2009, Science News shows a dark impact scar on Jupiter’s surface. Similar dark areas appeared when Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 hit. Why are they dark? Clearly, we are not seeing any “subsurface dirt.” Also, the color cannot be due to some dark underlying gas. Could it be an enormous depression in the cloud cover, the bottom of which the light does not reach? Raul Pettai, Montville, N.J. Glenn Orton of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., responds: Hard as it is to believe when you live on a planet where the dark stuff is... (p. 30)

November 23–24 Global health experts and researchers meet in Toronto to discuss swine flu. Visit new-fields.com/isfc_canada December 5–9 The American Society for Cell Biology hosts its annual meeting in San Diego. See www.ascb.org/meetings December 7–18 World leaders and U.N. representatives meet in Copenhagen to hash out a global climate agreement. Visit en.cop15.dk (p. 4)

More psychiatrists today but still only 1 to 16,400 —  Although the total number of psychiatrists in the United States has increased 21% in the last three years, there are still very few in proportion to the population, especially in remote regions away from the big cities.… The U.S. now has on an average one psychiatrist for every 16,400 persons. But in North Dakota there is only one for every 72,000 persons. South Carolina and Alabama also have ratios of more than 65,000 persons to each psychiatrist. The psychiatrists in the U.S., few in number though they are, do not devote al... (p. 4)

Slumber science Your October 24 issue featuring sleep research was very interesting and helpful. However, it did not cover any research being done — there may be none — relating to the human brain and modern changes to the nighttime environment. For most of human history, not much activity could take place at night. The diurnal cycle of light and darkness and the yearly seasons north and south of the equator must have had great influences on our development, response, brain activity and sleep. Man and the other biota with brains all developed when these cycles of inactivity domi... (p. 29)

November 18 Last day entries for the 2010 Intel Science Talent Search will be accepted. Download forms at www.societyforscience.org November 24 Biologist E.O. Wilson and others lecture at Harvard on the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s Origin of Species. Sign up for viewings at darwinlecture4.eventbrite.com November 30 Meeting for scientists and policy makers on Antarctic research begins in Washington, D.C. See www.atsummit50.aq (p. 4)