Data from the United Kingdom indicate that depressed patients attempt and complete suicides at an elevated rate in the 3 months after starting to take any of four antidepressant drugs. (p. 51)

By creating a new type of plastic transistor, researchers have identified crucial details regarding electric flow through plastic semiconductors. (p. 51)

Analyses of rock samples from two river gorges along the Atlantic seaboard suggest that the largest parts of those chasms were carved during a geologically short period at the height of the last ice age. (p. 52)

Elevated risks for developing multiple allergies, including asthma, eczema, and rhinitis, appear to be associated with household exposure to synthetic chemicals called phthalates. (p. 52)

A 14-year study of a spot 2.5 miles underwater off the California coast shows short-term links between surface events and an abundance of deep-water creatures. (p. 53)

A parasite spread by the sand fly secretes gel into the throat of the fly, which then regurgitates it when it bites a person, spreading the infection. (p. 53)

Using genetically engineered mice, scientists have identified a new target in the brain for drugs that could prevent epilepsy. (p. 54)

Tests with two kinds of stingless bees suggest that the more aggressive species uses scent-based espionage to target raids on the milder species' food. (p. 54)

With a space shuttle mission to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope now canceled, astronomers are pondering how to best use the flying observatory during its final years. (p. 56)

Game theory is helping to explain how cooperation and other self-sacrificing behaviors fit into natural selection. (p. 58)

Researchers have detected two new organic chemicals in a large interstellar cloud. (p. 61)

Excavations in Israel indicate that people began to eat large quantities of wild grass seeds and wild cereal grains by around 23,000 years ago, which pushes back by 10,000 years the estimated shift to a plant-rich diet. (p. 61)

The unusual way in which the chemical components of tarantula venom disrupt cells could inspire the design of new drug therapies. (p. 61)

The fat-tailed lemur, the first tropical mammal documented to hibernate, exploits local heat spikes to save energy during the long snooze. (p. 61)

Analyses of DNA from chipmunks in parts of the U.S. Midwest hint that some populations of the creatures stayed in northern refuges rather than migrating south at the beginning of the last ice age. (p. 62)

Citing results from five recent trials of anticholesterol statin drugs, U.S. health officials recommend that physicians use the drugs to treat many more patients with high cholesterol. (p. 62)

Direct contact with old-style pressure-treated lumber should pose little risk that arsenic will penetrate the skin. (p. 62)

(p. 63)