Scientists are working out ways to rev up the body’s gut-busting machinery (p. 18)

Relaunching biology from the beginning (p. 22)

Scientists question voice-based lie detection (p. 28)

As cleanup efforts progress, scientists try to track missing oil roaming below the surface. (p. 5)

Atoms linked across vast distances, can point in two directions at once (p. 8)

The sea hare transforms a benign algal pigment into a noxious molecule to help ward off crabs and other predators, new studies show. (p. 8)

Concussions are three times more common among 11- to 12-year-olds in leagues that permit checking, a Canadian study finds. (p. 9)

An enzyme that plays a role in the lethal inflammatory disorder may be a suitable drug target, early tests show. (p. 9)

The body that crashed into Jupiter last summer was likely an asteroid, and such impacts might occur as frequently as every 10 to 15 years, new studies suggest. (p. 10)

Methane-based organisms on one of Saturn’s moons might be consuming the materials. (p. 10)

New results from an orbiting telescope promise to more than double the number of known extrasolar planets. (p. 11)

A large study of people with the developmental disorder reveals the importance of extremely rare variations in genes, making each case a bit different. (p. 12)

An analysis of the entire genome of Jewish people shows Middle Eastern roots and traces ancestry across the globe. (p. 13)

Researchers uncover a deadly secret of Spanish flu. (p. 13)

Studies hint that genetic diversity among Native Americans may rival that seen in some African populations. (p. 13)

Analyses of discarded oyster shells confirm a deep drought during the Virginia colony’s earliest years. (p. 14)

Excavations in an Armenian cave have uncovered the oldest known leather footwear, a 5,500-year-old shoe. (p. 14)

Marine predators cruise the seas using fractal principles. (p. 15)

A critical interaction between whipworm and E. coli suggests a new way to battle the common gut infection. (p. 16)

Declines among species in Europe and Africa raise herpetologists’ worries of widespread population losses. (p. 16)

Ratchet-and-pawl thought experiment whirs to life, extracting work from bouncing beads. (p. 17)

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Review by Bruce Bower (p. 30)

Review by Rachel Zelkowitz (p. 30)

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