25 TOP STORIES OF 2007

Important News You May Have Missed

1. Scientists have discovered particles of cocaine and marijuana, as well as caffeine and tobacco, in the air of Italy's capital. The concentration of drugs was heaviest in the air around Rome's Sapienza University, though officials warned against drawing conclusions about students' recreational habits.

2. Some people's features match their monikers so well that it makes them instantly more memorable. For example, when people hear the name Bob, they picture a large, round face, but when they hear the name Tim or Andy, they imagine someone far thinner.

3. Ocean surface currents can be chaotically changeable. Two identical items released at the same location and at the same time can end up in vastly different areas. Severe storms that alter normal weather patterns also play an important role in the movement of drift items.

4. Dolphins living off the coast of Wales whistle, bark and groan in a different dialect from dolphins off the western coast of Ireland.

5. Scientists are breeding cows that can produce skimmed milk and butter that is so soft, it spreads straight from the fridge. A team in New Zealand has identified a cow, named Marge, who naturally produces lower levels of saturated fat in her milk.

6. For small- and large-stature adults, automobile airbags may do more harm than good, new research indicates. A detailed look at crash data spanning 11 years for more than 65,000 front-seat passengers found that while airbags are "modestly" protective for people of medium stature (5-foot-3 to 5-foot-11), they appear to increase the risk of injury to people smaller than 4-foot-11 and taller than 6-foot-3.

7. U.S. military troops rarely consume all the components in MRE provisions, particularly when they are preparing for missions where reducing the amount of weight and bulk in their packs is essential. Instead, they "field strip" the rations, choosing their favorite items and tossing out the rest.

8. Fetuses are able to mount their own specific immune response to flu vaccines received by their mothers.

9. Women who enjoyed strong childhood relationships with their fathers prefer to have a male partner who physically resembles him.

10. A race of 36 million-year-old, extinct giant penguins (over 5 feet tall) marched to equatorial South America during a time when the world was much warmer than it is now. Remains of the penguins found on the southern coast of Peru challenge previous conceptions about penguin evolution and expansion.

11. Icebergs hold trapped terrestrial material, which may be released far out at sea as they melt. This process produces a "halo effect" with significantly increased nutrients, chlorophyll and krill out to a radius of more than two miles. Scientists also have begun to suspect that icebergs may play a role in global climate regulation by removing carbon from the atmosphere.

12. Fish use the threat of punishment to maintain stability in their social order. Small goby fish at Lizard Island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef use the threat of expulsion from the school as a powerful deterrent to keep subordinate fish from challenging those more dominant.

13. A giant fossilized claw found from an ancient sea scorpion indicates that when alive, it would have been much taller than the average man. This find, from rocks 390 million years old, suggests that spiders, insects, crabs and similar creatures were much larger in the past than previously thought.

14. Skin cancer is 20 percent more common on the left side of the body.

15. Men who have only daughters have a higher risk of prostate cancer than men with at least one son, suggesting a chromosome defect.

16. Baking pizza dough at higher temperatures for longer periods enhances levels of antioxidants that researchers believe reduce a person's risk of developing cancer and heart disease.

17. Scientists have discovered dark chocolate contains more antioxidants than red wine.

18. People who are optimists do better in most avenues of life, whether it's work, school, sports or relationships. They get depressed less often than pessimists do, make more money and have happier marriages.

19. Scientists have figured out that a unique bacterium is what makes the sea smell like the sea. They've also found a way to capture the aroma and bottle it.

20. Minorities from low-income areas are at increased risk for having a leg amputated as a result of severe peripheral artery disease, or PAD, a type of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, of the legs.

21. A survey of 25,000 Americans found that 62 percent said they do not eat any fruit on a typical day, and 25 percent said they do not eat vegetables. All told, 11 percent ate the recommended number of servings of fruits and vegetables, it found.

22. Owls try to sound more macho by lowering the tone of their hoots.

23. Electronic noses used in the food industry and for sniffing out explosives can perform better with the addition of artificial "snot."

24. Wild herds of African elephants communicating by vibrations in the ground can determine which animal produced the vibrations. The seismic system is so sophisticated, scientists describe the elephants as having their own version of "caller ID."

25. A new species of sea anemone has been discovered in the deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean, living in the unlikeliest of habitats: the carcass of a dead whale that had sunk some 1.8 miles below sea level in a region called Monterey Canyon, roughly 25 miles off the coast of Monterey, Calif.