Antibodies against amyloid protein, which gums up the brains of Alzheimer's patients, reverse a form of the disease in mice. (p. 83)

Astronomers appear to have discovered an unexpected population of low-energy gamma-ray bursts, and they could be 10 times more numerous than previously-known higher-energy bursts. (p. 83)

A single defective gene causes muscular dystrophy, and researchers have now found a way to deliver a working copy of that gene to the entire muscular system in mice. (p. 84)

Using a beam of ultraviolet light, researchers manipulate tiny drops of water on a surface—a demonstration that could lead to ultrafast and highly precise chemical reactions on a chip. (p. 84)

Flies sucked through the ventilation ports of industrial chicken coops may spread the pathogen Campylobacter jejuni, which can ultimately sicken people who eat undercooked chicken. (p. 85)

A 2-month marine-biodiversity survey of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge concluded this week, bringing home much data and some novel specimens. (p. 85)

Detailed computerized tomography scans of the fossilized braincase of an Archaeopteryx show that several flight-related regions of the feathered creature's brain were highly developed. (p. 86)

The last decade has been a great era for discovering corals in the deep ocean, but a United Nations report warns that these cold, dark reefs urgently need protection. (p. 88)

Physicists appear to have wedded the arcane theory of quarks to cutting-edge computer science, giving themselves tools for precisely predicting properties of subatomic matter and possibly observing new physical phenomena. (p. 90)

Scouring an ice field in Antarctica, scientists have made the latest discovery of a chunk of rock that was blasted from Mars and fell to Earth. (p. 93)

Mammogram–scanning computers can help radiologists detect breast cancers that would otherwise escape diagnosis. (p. 93)

The X-ray outburst of a young, sunlike star might provide new insights about planet formation. (p. 93)

Though a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in academic settings has fostered women's participation in science, they still lag behind men in salaries and research opportunities. (p. 93)

Dropping a single electron onto a gold atom with a scanning tunneling microscope converts gold from its neutral state to an ionic state. (p. 94)

Brightly fluorescent crystals known as quantum dots have the potential to seek out cancerous cells in the body, a trick that could lead to highly precise cancer screening. (p. 94)

Salaries for full-time scientists and engineers in the United States have generally outpaced inflation, but academic researchers tend to earn substantially less than their counterparts in industry and government. (p. 94)

A pair of satellites launched in 2002 has detected small, regional changes in Earth's gravitational field that are caused by seasonal variations in rainfall and soil moisture. (p. 94)

(p. 95)