Misfolded proteins known as prions can cause disease when injected into the brains of genetically engineered mice. (p. 67)

Annual fluctuations in certain fish populations can be best understood and controlled by accounting for ecological factors, such as predation by other fish, in addition to fisheries harvests. (p. 67)

A newly discovered genus of marine worm can take nourishment from sunken whale skeletons, thanks to a previously unknown form of symbiosis. (p. 68)

A study of baby monkeys finds that exposure to natural light in the year after birth fosters their ability to recognize colors as lighting gets brighter or dimmer. (p. 69)

Using quasars as searchlights on the distant universe, astronomers have mapped the distribution of gas between galaxies with unprecedented precision, allowing precise determinations of the age of the universe. (p. 69)

Specially designed polymer molecules called dendrimers reduce scar tissue formation after glaucoma surgery, dramatically improving the procedure's outcome. (p. 70)

Bits of foreign DNA from the parasite that causes Chagas' disease becomes integrated into the DNA of infected hosts, marking the first time that parasitic DNA has ever been found in the human genome. (p. 70)

Psychologists are trying to see whether the statistically significant deception signals found in laboratory experiments exist in high stakes, realistic lies, and whether real lie detectors, such as police officers and judges, are able to detect them. (p. 72)

Data collected during an 18-day barrage of major solar flares late last year—including a record-setting coronal mass ejection on Nov. 4—will help scientists refine models of flare formation and behavior. (p. 74)

Only a few days after it entered orbit around Saturn, the Cassini spacecraft captured an image of Saturn's split- personality moon Iapetus. (p. 77)

The Stone Age human ancestor Homo erectus grew at about the same pace as wild chimpanzees today do. (p. 77)

Giving birth confers on women some protection against ovarian cancer, and the later in life the last pregnancy happens, the better the protection. (p. 77)

Long-banned, toxic polychlorinated biphenyls in some building caulk applied in the 1960s and 1970s may still pose an exposure risk. (p. 77)

Chewing aspirin or just letting the tablets dissolve in the mouth can seriously damage teeth. (p. 78)

Fossils recently discovered in northeastern Newfoundland reveal that some of Earth's earliest large organisms had modular body plans whose main architectural element was a branching, frondlike structure. (p. 78)

A brain-imaging study suggests that autism is characterized by disturbances in the development of the amygdala and the hippocampus, two inner-brain structures. (p. 78)

The Environmental Protection Agency says it may levy a fine surpassing $300 million against DuPont for concealing evidence that it was contaminating the environment with perfluorooctanoic acid. (p. 78)

(p. 79)