Astronomers unveiled the first images and spectra taken by the most sensitive and highest-resolution infrared observatory ever sent into space. (p. 387)

Lupus patients have more signs of atherosclerosis than do healthy people, suggesting that the inflammation that causes many lupus symptoms also damages blood vessels. (p. 387)

New field observations, satellite images, and computer models suggest that a severe thunderstorm, enhanced by heat from forest fires, can boost soot, smoke, and other particles as far as the lower stratosphere, an unexpected phenomenon. (p. 388)

By fixing the components of a cell membrane to a liquid crystal, researchers devised a sensitive and high-speed sensor for detecting chemical and biowarfare agents. (p. 388)

Three ivory figurines found in southwestern Germany may belong to one of the world's oldest known art traditions, dating to more than 30,000 years ago. (p. 389)

The ability of soft, jellylike hydrogels to move as do snails, snakes, and inchworms may point the way to a new class of squishy robots that promise to be simple, quiet, and versatile. (p. 389)

A study of 23 spots in Amazonian forests has raised the question of whether the collection of Brazil nuts—praised as a model of gentle forest use—has reached such levels that it may not be sustainable. (p. 390)

Statistical tests and computation can help solve literary mysteries surrounding the authorship of well-known works. (p. 392)

Research advances in 2003 heralded a string of unexpected scientific indignities that will occur in the future, at least in the fevered imagination of one writer. (p. 395)

Some wind-propelled sand dunes can pass right through each other if their relative sizes are right, new computer simulations indicate—although the sand grains of one dune don't actually penetrate through the other dune. (p. 397)

Potentially usable electricity flows when water is forced through millions of ceramic tubes thinner than a human hair. (p. 397)

A fan-shaped region of debris on Mars is providing new evidence that some places on the Red Planet, now bone-dry, once had long-lasting rivers or lakes. (p. 397)

Wild baboons exhibit a richer, more complex social life than scientists have often assumed, according to two new studies. (p. 397)

Efforts to get survivors of a variety of life-threatening situations to vent their emotions in debriefing sessions may do no good, or even cause harm in some cases, a research review finds. (p. 398)

People sleeping on medium-firm mattresses report less pain than those sleeping on firm mattresses, contradicting a long-held belief that harder is better. (p. 398)

Try the Science News current-events crossword puzzle. (p. 400)

Injectable polymer nanoparticles could store insulin in the body over several days and release the medication precisely when blood sugar concentrations change. (p. 398)

Researchers have devised a way to prevent an innovative solar cell material from degrading under high temperatures and prolonged exposure to light. (p. 398)

A review of important scientific achievements reported in Science News during the year 2003. (p. 401)

Letters from the Dec. 20 & 27, 2003, issue of Science News. (p. 399)