Splicing a gene from a blight-resistant wild potato into varieties used for consumption could lead to blight immunity for all spuds. (p. 35)

Long-term studies conducted in the United States and New Zealand indicate that girls are particularly likely to engage in sexual activity before age 16 and to get pregnant as teenagers if they grew up in families without a father present. (p. 35)

Genetic tabs called telomeres, which normally protect the ends of chromosomes, become undersized in many tissues that later turn cancerous, new studies in people show. (p. 36)

A new computer model that more realistically simulates the aerodynamic forces on an object as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere suggests that the thin layer of air is an even better shield than previously thought. (p. 36)

Birds in noisier city spots tend to sing at a higher pitch than do members of the same species in quieter neighborhoods. (p. 37)

In a step toward a new laboratory-on-a-chip technology, researchers have grown a dense polymer film on a silicon wafer that takes up and releases proteins on command. (p. 38)

Cadmium causes endocrine disruption by mimicking estrogen in rats and also thwarts routine DNA repair, causing mutations, two studies show. (p. 38)

An amino acid that human brain cells communicate with also has a role in plant sex. (p. 39)

Studying starburst galaxies, relatively nearby galaxies that are undergoing a tremendous rate of star formation, may reveal how elliptical galaxies arose and black holes grew in the early universe. (p. 40)

New field studies of unfossilized bones, as well as databases full of information about current fossil excavations and previous fossil finds, are providing insights into how complete—or incomplete—Earth's fossil record may be. (p. 42)

A new analysis of fossils from a more than 3-million-year-old species in the human evolutionary family reveals that the males were only moderately larger than the females, a finding that has implications for ancient social behavior. (p. 45)

A new, inexpensive catalyst could make hydrogen generation cleaner. (p. 45)

Researchers have developed a method of delivering gene therapies to targeted cells that makes use of viral proteins rather than whole virus particles. (p. 45)

New sensors use carbon nanotubes to analyze gas. (p. 46)

Flailing like an out-of-control fire hose, a mammoth jet of charged particles gushing from a collapsed star is varying its shape and brightness more rapidly than any other jet known in the heavens. (p. 46)

People are programmed to spend about the same number of calories per day—roughly the energy of one hot dog—on daily travel, according to new analysis of British transportation statistics. (p. 46)