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  1. Darwin: Portrait of a Genius by Paul Johnson

    A historian celebrates Charles Darwin’s triumphs and analyzes his weaknesses in the latest biography of the naturalist. Viking, 2012, 164 p., $25.95

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  2. The Universal Sense: How Hearing Shapes the Mind by Seth S. Horowitz

    This review of the science of hearing considers how people have learned to create and control music, sonic weapons and other noises. Bloomsbury, 2012, 305 p., $25

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  3. Genetics

    Factory of Life

    Synthetic biologists reinvent nature with parts, circuits.

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  4. Space

    Light in the Dark

    Scientists may be on the brink of identifying a mysterious form of matter.

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  5. Earth

    West Antarctica warming fast

    A reconstructed temperature record from a high-altitude station shows an unexpectedly rapid rise since 1958.

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  6. Humans

    Hitting streaks in baseball may be contagious

    Teammates of a batter on a streak hit better than their average, a review of baseball records finds.

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  7. Life

    Victorian zoological map redrawn

    Species distribution patterns that inspired Darwin and Wallace get an update.

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  8. Space

    California meteorite a scientific gold mine

    Sutter’s Mill rock preserves rare, fresh material from outer space.

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  9. Humans

    Man the martial artist

    The human hand evolved partly as a tool for fighting, researchers argue.

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  10. Chemistry

    Repellent slime has material virtues

    Threads isolated from hagfishes' defensive goo demonstrate superior strength and flexibility.

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  11. Space

    News in brief: Possible planet looks habitable

    Astronomers find a body in the habitable zone of a nearby sunlike star by pushing the limits of detection.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Twin towers dust tied to some cancers, not others

    9/11 rescue and recovery workers have higher rates of prostate and thyroid cancers and multiple myeloma, a study shows.

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