An innovative atomic clock is more precise than the breed of clocks that's been the best for 50 years. (p. 51)

A new study provides evidence of a decline among some of Europe's insect pollinators and the wild plants that need them. (p. 51)

The two sexes vary in the amounts of proteins produced by thousands of genes. (p. 52)

The suicide rate among people with a psychiatric disorder that causes them to perceive themselves as ugly is higher than that among people with major depression. (p. 52)

Numerous experiments in which volunteers mentally attempt to influence the output of computers that generate random sequences of 1s and 0s have failed to show that individuals can use their minds to manipulate the physical world. (p. 53)

The orientation of dunes in north-central Nebraska indicates that the climate there a millennium ago was much different than it is today. (p. 53)

Women who experience migraines that are preceded by sensory irregularities face a heightened risk of heart attack and stroke. (p. 54)

Six thermonuclear explosions have ripped off the outer layers of a dense, nearby star in the past 108 years. (p. 54)

Researchers are developing ways to harvest babies' genes in less invasive ways. (p. 56)

A new, physics-based approach to analyzing simple games, such as Chomp and Nim, reveals changing geometric patterns reminiscent of crystal growth. (p. 58)

Two recently found small moons orbiting Pluto have now been officially dubbed Nix and Hydra. (p. 61)

Changing the leg length of desert ants upsets their ability to judge distance, providing the first evidence in any animal of a built-in odometer based on stride. (p. 61)

When punishing criminals, people tend to seek retribution, not deterrence. (p. 61)

An orchid species in China has set a new record for acrobatics in self-pollination, twisting its male organs around and inserting them into the cavity where the female organ lies. (p. 61)

The wool of woolly mammoths may have come in at least two shades. (p. 62)

A seaweed derivative that's commonly added to many consumer products as a thickening agent can inhibit the virus that causes cervical cancer and genital warts. (p. 62)

To protect cold-water corals, huge areas of Alaskan waters will be off limits to trawls and other fishing gear that typically scrape the seafloor. (p. 62)

Sea-surface temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean reached record highs last year. (p. 62)

(p. 63)