First, let’s clear the air: Nicotine invites addiction, and it employs a delivery device that’s been killing people for centuries. But let’s also be honest: Nicotine has some attractive qualities. Smokers use it to calm jitters or perk themselves up. It’s a common (if ill-advised) tool for weight control. Nicotine lowers the risk and eases the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Patients with mental illness have high rates of tobacco use, partly because nicotine helps quiet the mind. Because of these talents—along with nicotine’s intense grip on the brain—scientists have... (p. 28)

Because plastic products can be mass-produced cheaply, they have long been considered the poster child of a throwaway culture. Plastics are versatile: Some are soft and flexible, but others are completely rigid. A few mimic natural substances; some are infused with colors rarely found in nature. Others are as clear as glass. And some polymer substances composing plastics can be molded into shapes impossible to reproduce with materials such as wood. Perhaps because they are so versatile, some objects made from plastics have become highly collectible. Some museum collections, in fa... (p. 34)

Bugs home in on seeds by detecting infrared radiation.

New techniques may be shaving a century or two off the recovery of mined mountain tops.

Forested mountain peaks have been giving way to grassy planes in Appalachian coal country.

Even jet-lagged, the world's lead climate negotiator took time out to brief a few reporters.

One researcher is awarded for discovering the protein that helps jellyfish glow and two for making the protein into a crucial tool for biologists. (p. 10)

New nanomaterials may offer a solution to mopping up a toxic pollutant associated with fluorescent lighting.

Toxic mercury will be released whenever a fluorescent lamp breaks.