A new analysis settles the question of whether carbon molecules found in meteorites have an extraterrestrial origin. (p. 196)

Scientists have identified a large family of proteins that work as taste receptors for bitterness. (p. 196)

Pig brain cells transplanted into the brains of patients with advanced Parkinson's disease help some of the patients regain mobility and the ability to do basic tasks. (p. 197)

A biotech company announced the first cloning of pigs. (p. 197)

Scientists have created a device with bizarre electromagnetic properties—but so far, only at microwave frequencies. (p. 198)

Octonoba spiders tune the sensitivity of their webs according to how hungry they are. (p. 198)

U.S. cattle have dramatically higher rates of infection with a virulent food-poisoning bacterium than had been realized, a factor that leads to widespread carcass contamination during slaughter. (p. 199)

Roughly half the 120 unidentified sources of high-energy gamma-ray emissions in the Milky Way—those at midgalactic latitudes—may comprise a new class of objects and originate from a belt of massive stars that lies only a few hundred light-years from the solar system. (p. 199)

Scientists are discovering that more carbon dioxide in the air could spell disaster for plants and the animals that love to eat them. (p. 200)

The impending collapse of a 40-year union between the electronic wonder materials silicon and silicon dioxide threatens the advance of chip technology and propels a high-stakes search for silicon dioxide replacements. (p. 204)

A new gravity map of Mars has revealed a network of buried channels that billions of years ago may have been on the surface and helped carry water to fill an ancient ocean. (p. 206)

Astro-E, a Japanese X-ray observatory, fell back to Earth and burned up just after launch on Feb. 9. (p. 206)

Two studies cast doubt on the apparent link between night lights in a baby's nursery and an increased risk of being nearsighted later in childhood. (p. 207)

People who have had a major blood clot in a vein are roughly twice as likely to harbor high concentrations of blood coagulation factor XI as people who haven't. (p. 207)

Microscopic carbon forests can grow on a graphite surface without the help of catalysts. (p. 207)

Carbon nanotubes are very sensitive to oxygen, an effect that could limit their use in open-air applications. (p. 207)

A new electronic nose detects amine compounds produced when fish decay. (p. 207)