Just as the solar system was forming some 4.6 billion years ago, some of the hottest material, residing so close to the sun that it was almost vaporized, sped out to the chilliest reaches of deep space, where it became incorporated into comets. (p. 387)

People with generally positive outlooks show greater resistance to developing colds than do individuals who rarely revel in upbeat feelings. (p. 387)

A spherical microbe from the weird world of hot-water ocean vents has trumped the nitrogen-processing powers of all organisms previously studied. (p. 388)

Although carbon nanotubes usually clump in water, they readily disperse when the water contains natural organic matter. (p. 389)

Scientists have tracked down a genetic mutation that makes some members of an unusual family unable to feel pain. (p. 389)

Vaccination can prevent three of every four flu infections, even when the vaccines are imperfectly tailored to block the common wintertime pathogens. (p. 390)

A new method for cutting cake yields slices that make everyone equally happy. (p. 390)

The traditional method for communicating results of scientific research could get its biggest facelift in hundreds of years. (p. 392)

Researchers are looking into new ways to sanitize harvested produce and prevent foodborne pathogens from infecting people. (p. 394)

Stringing a carbon nanotube between two needles yields a nanoscale cheese knife that could improve slicing of biological samples. (p. 397)

Astronomers have for the first time directly measured the magnetic field of a star known to host a giant planet. (p. 397)

Two common water pollutants can function in shellfish as estrogen does, but they have different behavioral effects on two species. (p. 397)

The partial skeleton of a human ancestor previously found in South Africa dates to about 2.2 million years ago, roughly 1 million years younger than the original estimates. (p. 397)

Neandertals that 43,000 years ago inhabited what's now northern Spain faced periodic food shortages and possibly resorted to cannibalism to survive. (p. 398)

Researchers have detected antidepressant drugs in the brains of fish captured downstream of sewage-treatment plants. (p. 398)

Some body fat comes from stem cells that migrate out of bone marrow. (p. 398)

A new drug-delivery method has dramatically reduced tumors in experiments conducted with mice. (p. 398)

(p. 399)