When it comes to sensory information detected by the body, pain is king, and itch is the court jester. But that insistent, tingly feeling—satisfied only by a scratch—is anything but funny to the millions of people who suffer from it chronically. Garden-variety itches related to histamine, like the kind caused by an angry rash of chicken pox or poison ivy, annoy everyone, but most can be subdued with drugs like Benadryl. But another type of itch is not mollified by these drugs, and therein lies the rub. Pathological itch — called the “itch that laughs at Benadryl” by neuros... (p. 16)

With the entire genome sequence of a tumor now in hand, scientists may be able to start answering basic questions about cancer.

The results are in from MESSENGER’s second flyby of Mercury, one of the least-explored planets in the solar system.

Tracked bar-tailed godwits break previous nonstop flight record for birds. (p. 14)

Fifty-five years later, new analyses of leftovers from Stanley Miller's famous 'primordial soup' experiment suggest that life could have originated near volcanoes. (p. 14)