Fossil skulls found in central Asia date to 1.7 million years ago and may represent the first ancestral human species to have left Africa. (p. 308)

Ambient concentrations of smog ozone in many regions can cause lungs to leak, potentially compromising the health of even robust people. (p. 308)

Two technologies for transferring genes, one that uses mobile DNA called transposons and another that uses a weak virus, have proved successful in overcoming genetic disorders in mice. (p. 309)

Astronomers say they've likely confirmed that half of the hydrogen gas in the universe, which had not been accounted for, resides in relatively nearby reaches of intergalactic space. (p. 310)

Swiss researchers find the first case of a female flashing ornaments that advertise her gene quality to choosy males. (p. 310)

Important but imprecisely measured, the gravitational constant, G, is given its most exact experimental value yet, while a pioneering investigation into gravity finds that extra dimensions, if they do exist, occupy spaces of less than a couple tenths of a millimeter. (p. 311)

Scientists from six countries have completed the sequence of human chromosome 21. (p. 311)

Advances may make fish farming a healthy prospect, even for inner cities. (p. 314)

Do captured viral genes make human pregnancies possible? (p. 318)

When taken before or with meals, ginseng appears to help people with diabetes control the normal rise in blood sugar that accompanies eating. (p. 312)

A common diabetes drug helps treat obesity and cure the infertility associated with polycystic ovary disease—even in people without diabetes. (p. 312)

Substituting monounsaturated fats for polyunsaturated ones in cooking may hold hunger at bay longer. (p. 312)

Animal studies indicate that enriching diets with soy and tea fights cancer better than adding either alone. (p. 312)

For the first time, researchers have shown that bird pairs are more likely to divorce after raising young than after losing a nest of offspring. (p. 317)

Tent caterpillars get more heat and insulation than scientists had expected. (p. 317)

Bees that can take over even an Africanized-bee colony start by conning their nursemaids into giving them royal treatment. (p. 317)

A Nipah virus outbreak in Malaysia may have started when bats spread disease to pigs. (p. 317)

Beer consumption seems to boost concentrations of vitamin B6 in blood and coincides with lower concentrations of homocysteine, a risk factor for heart disease. (p. 317)