Chemical analyses of prehistoric pot fragments indicate that English farmers milked livestock beginning around 6,000 years ago, providing the earliest confirmed evidence of dairying anywhere in the world. (p. 67)

In an extreme case of sex fakery, an orchid produces oddball chemicals to mimic a female wasp's allure so well that males prefer the flower scent to the real thing. (p. 67)

New studies suggest that clear jelly under sharks' skin can enable the animals to detect minute changes in seawater temperature—potentially leading them to prey. (p. 68)

Exposure to loud, continuous sound can scatter free radicals within heart tissue and cause injury to cells' DNA even after the din subsides, new animal research suggests. (p. 68)

In a process called thermotaxis, sperm cells may use a temperature gradient in the fallopian tubes to find their way to an unfertilized egg. (p. 69)

Whales equipped with environmental sensors discover warm water beneath Arctic ice. (p. 69)

Forty wunderkinder, named as finalists in the annual Intel Science Talent Search, will collect $530,000 in scholarships for original research in science, mathematics, and engineering. (p. 70)

Certain pollutants can foster the localized fallout of mercury, a toxic heavy metal, from the atmosphere. (p. 72)

Oceanographers are developing and deploying a variety of seafaring probes—including drifters, gliders, and scientific torpedoes—that will enable them to explore and monitor the ocean remotely. (p. 75)

The proportion of children and teenagers in the United States taking drugs prescribed for psychiatric disorders more than doubled from 1987 to 1996. (p. 77)

A clot-promoting protein known as recombinant activated factor VII might offer a new way to staunch demand for blood transfusions. (p. 77)

A ground-based telescope on automatic pilot has taken one of the earliest images ever recorded of the visible-light afterglow of a gamma-ray burst, one of the most energetic flashes of radiation in the universe. (p. 77)

A primitive ion-based computer exploiting the weirdness of quantum mechanics has taken an important step forward in problem solving. (p. 77)

Astronomers say they have discovered three additional moons circling Neptune. (p. 78)

The annual U.S. toll of influenza has risen dramatically since the late 1970s, in part because of the advancing age of the population. (p. 78)

Researchers examining deep-sea sediments have uncovered a large source of previously unknown bacteria that appear to produce disease-fighting chemicals. (p. 78)

As of Jan. 3, Kilauea—Hawaii’s Energizer Bunny of volcanic activity—has been erupting continuously for two decades. (p. 78)