Computer science makes history, gleaning new findings from centuries' worth of transcripts from a Victorian-era courthouse. (p. 20)

It's a zoo in there: Scientists turn up startling diversity among neurons. (p. 22)

Scientists rethink what the first stars were like and how they formed. (p. 26)

Mitochondrial genetic analysis suggests a bit o’ hybridizing long ago with brown bears on the Emerald Isle. (p. 5)

While clues to combating the infectious cancer that's threatening the species remain elusive, the completion of two genetic blueprints reveals a low but stable genetic diversity. (p. 8)

A gene controls the clearance of a protein that accumulates in the brains of people with the condition. (p. 9)

For the first time scientists have repaired a damaged gene in a living mouse. (p. 9)

Potatoes and sugary soft drinks add pounds, a long-term analysis shows; fruit, yogurt and nuts help shed them. (p. 10)

The left and right hemispheres have equal and independent capacity, monkey study finds. (p. 10)

An ointment that slows the transport of venom from the bite site to the vital organs could keep victims alive long enough to reach medical care. (p. 11)

Superbright object appeared surprisingly soon after the Big Bang, challenging some theories about how black holes arose. (p. 12)

Images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter show fine details of the lunar surface. (p. 12)

In sediments under California’s Salton Sea, geologists find evidence for a natural disaster one-two punch. (p. 13)

Children who don’t grasp arithmetic at all, unlike below-average students, have little feel for estimating quantities. (p. 14)

A mammoth engraved on a fossil may date from at least 13,000 year ago. (p. 14)

Studies show that exposures in the womb or during adolescence can erase masculine habits or reverse sexes' behavior. (p. 16)

Despite its invasive success, the lionfish can't withstand grouper appetites. (p. 16)

A new study shows how pollutants helped balance out the effects of greenhouse gases from 1998 to 2008. (p. 17)

Airplanes knock rain from the sky, plus a quick-melting glacier and BPA's diabetes link in this week's news. (p. 17)

Researchers have developed a sensor that, when flexed, generates enough charge to send wireless signals. (p. 18)

Electrifying ink, superelastic alloys, knotty molecules and more in this week's news. (p. 18)

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Review by Erika Engelhaupt (p. 30)

Review by Daniel Strain (p. 30)

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Experts had forecast that astronauts would walk on Mars by 1970, but such a feat is still 20-plus years out. (p. 32)