For the first time, researchers have directly observed a protein begin to crystallize, and they've found it has a peculiar shape. (p. 84)

Astronomers have found the nearest known planet that lies outside the solar system, a mere 10.5 light-years from Earth. (p. 84)

The infamous virus called Ebola has a surface protein that kills cells in blood vessels. (p. 85)

Two new particle accelerators built to help discover why there's matter instead of antimatter in the universe are closing in on an answer at record speed. (p. 86)

After 5 years of mystery, California pathologists announced they may have identified the cause of a new tree disease called sudden oak death. (p. 86)

NASA satellite images released last week confirmed that the northern United States had much less snow cover than normal this spring, following North America's warmest winter on record. (p. 87)

Injecting mice and chickens with a type of adenovirus that causes colds in humans led to higher body fat, though not higher body weight, and researchers point to indirect evidence for a role for the virus in human obesity as well. (p. 87)

Political conflict and terror look different up close and local. (p. 88)

Does junk DNA help women muffle one X chromosome? (p. 92)

Cadmium, a metal naturally present in south-central Colorado, concentrates at deadly levels in willow plants, poisoning the ptarmigan that rely on the plant during winter months. (p. 90)

Two studies independently confirm that Candida albicans, a strain of yeast long believed to be asexual, can sexually reproduce under certain conditions. (p. 90)

Male fish can inappropriately make egg yolk protein, even when only intermittently exposed to water tainted with an estrogenic pollutant. (p. 94)

Biologists have launched a campaign to eradicate the first infestation in open American waters of an invasive mutant algae. (p. 94)

Escherichia coli, which causes severe diarrhea in people, may be widespread in deer, a finding that raises concerns about preparation of wild-game meats. (p. 95)

Australian scientists have identified a new virus, apparently spread by fruit bats, that causes birth defects in pigs and severe illness in some people exposed to infected pigs. (p. 95)

An outbreak of fatal encephalitis in India appears to have been caused by a strange form of rashless measles in a majority of the sick children tested. (p. 95)

Reducing the amount of antibiotics given to livestock in Denmark has lowered the amount of drug-resistant Enterococcus faecium bacteria in the meat of these animals. (p. 95)