Frozen helium prepared in a laboratory has apparently transformed into a superfluid solid, or supersolid—a never-before-seen phase of matter that theorists predicted more than 30 years ago. (p. 35)

By interfering with a protein that earlier research implicated in mucus secretion, scientists have countered overstimulation of mucus secretion in the airways of mice. (p. 35)

Observing a sunlike star 90 light-years from Earth, astronomers have found evidence of a closely orbiting planet heating its star. (p. 36)

The secret behind the binding power of mussel glue lies in iron extracted from seawater. (p. 36)

Massive peat bogs in Russia may have been a major source of atmospheric methane just after the end of the last ice age. (p. 37)

Federal data indicate that fear of flying after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks caused a second toll of lives on U.S. roads in the last three months of that year. (p. 37)

When male spotted bowerbirds collect sticks and other doodads to wow females, they don't search for the rare showpiece but go for the cheap trinket. (p. 38)

A research team contends that animals that routinely change sex, even those prompted by mate loss or other social cues, tend to do so when they reach 72 percent of their maximum size. (p. 40)

Scientists find that facing your fears enables you to suppress them. (p. 42)

A pressure-detecting membrane laminated onto a sheet of flexible plastic electronics may lead to artificial skin for robots. (p. 45)

Crohn's disease, marked by inflammation of the small intestine, could be caused by refrigeration of meats, a process that selects for hardy bacteria that handle cold temperatures well, researchers hypothesize. (p. 45)

A hormone-mimicking pollutant that leaches out of some plastics appears to fight lupus. (p. 45)

Researchers have identified a set of genes that has evolved an extensive pattern of alterations unique to people. (p. 45)

Researchers have demonstrated a highly efficient means of splitting water molecules to generate hydrogen fuel. (p. 46)

A new way to freeze light pulses in midflight preserves the pulses' optical energy and may eventually lead to using stationary light in optical circuits and quantum computers. (p. 46)

Researchers are using viruses to assemble semiconducting nanowires—the building blocks of future electronic circuits. (p. 46)

Personality traits may vary as much from one dog to another as they do from one person to another, a new study suggests. (p. 46)

Letters from the Jan. 17, 2004, issue of Science News. (p. 47)