Researchers have announced the discovery of the oldest and most complete fossil child in our evolutionary family yet found. (p. 195)

Men who alternate between daytime and nighttime shifts on their jobs have triple the normal rate of prostate cancer, according to a Japanese nationwide study. (p. 195)

The most powerful bursts in the universe may have gotten more mysterious. (p. 196)

A lotion that stimulates production of the skin pigment melanin induces a deep tan in specially bred laboratory mice. (p. 196)

Within just 5 years, singing has nearly died out among a population of cricket on a Hawaiian island. (p. 197)

The earliest-known bird had feathers on its legs that may have provided lift for flight, improving its maneuverability. (p. 197)

Although not made exclusively of silicon, a new type of laser runs on electricity and could be mass manufactured in the same factories as silicon microchips are. (p. 198)

A new theory suggests that many huge stars undergo outbursts during which they shed most of their mass late in life rather than doing it gradually over their 3-to-4-million-year lifetimes. (p. 200)

New methods of assessing a person's risk of sudden death due to a heart arrhythmia may enable doctors to better identify which patients need to receive an implanted defibrillator. (p. 202)

Researchers have created a microchip laser that fires an extraordinarily thin beam of high-intensity light. (p. 205)

A controversial report concludes that Neandertals lived on southwestern Europe's Iberian coast until 24,000 years ago, sharing the area for several thousand years with modern humans before dying out. (p. 205)

Elderly women who received progestin as part of hormone replacement therapy have poorer hearing than do women who didn't get progestin. (p. 205)

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has finished reshaping its orbit, while the venerable rover Opportunity is approaching the rim of the widest and deepest crater it has yet visited. (p. 205)

The cost-effectiveness of a new vaccine against shingles remains uncertain, making it difficult to assess whether adults should routinely receive the shot. (p. 206)

The European Space Agency's first mission to the moon ended with a deliberate bang on Sept. 3. (p. 206)

Mechanical engineers have developed a system that greatly decreases the amount of toxic hydrocarbons a car releases. (p. 206)

A national survey finds that people with bipolar disorder lose even more workdays each year as a result of their illness than do workers with major depression. (p. 206)

(p. 207)