Two new studies point to the diverse genetic roots of autism and related developmental disorders, while other evidence questions the claim that mercury-based childhood vaccines have contributed to rising autism rates. (p. 19)

The eerie phosphorescence displayed by a rare form of blue diamond can be used as an easy, cheap, and nondestructive way to identify individual gemstones and to distinguish natural blue diamonds from synthetic ones. (p. 19)

Results of a new study using hypnosis may shed light on the process of memory retrieval and the potential for one part of the brain to block it. (p. 20)

Neutron stars may be the weirdest stars in the universe, but they don't seem to be very strange, a weighty new report finds. (p. 20)

Cross two strains of blind cavefish that have lived in the dark for a million years, and some of their offspring will be able to see. (p. 21)

In roundworms, protons carry signals from cells in the intestine to muscle cells, raising the possibility that protons might act as neurotransmitters in mammal brains. (p. 21)

When light bends at an interface, it also shifts depending on its polarization. With animation. (p. 22)

Excavations at tar pits in Venezuela suggest that the fossils found there may rival those of the famed Rancho La Brea tar pits in Southern California. (p. 24)

Conjuring life in the lab from nothing but nonliving molecules may sound far-fetched, but the first synthetic life forms may soon be a reality. (p. 27)

Smoking increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by up to 61 percent. (p. 29)

African birds called pied babblers teach their chicks that certain parental noises mean food is on the way. (p. 29)

Chemical analyses of amber excavated near Paris suggest that France was covered with a dense tropical forest about 55 million years ago. (p. 30)

Orphan infants living in Romanian institutions who were randomly assigned to receive foster care showed marked improvements in thinking and reasoning skills by age 4-1/2, compared with their peers who remained institutionalized. (p. 30)

The chromosomal abnormality that causes Down syndrome might protect against some solid tumors. (p. 30)

Silicon nanowires can at least double the storage capacity of lithium-ion batteries. (p. 30)

(p. 31)