For most onlookers, though, it was just a fantastic show. Physicists think six types of quarks are the building blocks of all the particles within atomic nuclei. They had found the first five by 1977, and now the top quark, the sixth and heaviest, has been identified at Fermilab, near Chicago. It took 440 scientists to spot the top, which disintegrates in an infinitesimal fraction of a second. Genetics Marches On Breast cancer and severe obesity can both be deadly, and now there is evidence that both can result from faulty genes.
Treatments are years away, but the discoveries are big steps toward that goal.
Australopithecus afarensis were the oldest known members of the human family. Homo erectus, the first of Lucy's descendants to leave Africa, made that move about 800,000 years earlier than had been thought. Packagers now have to display data on cholesterol, fat, protein, sodium, carbohydrates and vitamins - and, where appropriate, reveal how much of the recommended daily allowance of these nutrients a serving of the food provides. Don't fret that you're missing out on all the fun. Most of us are monogamous, married couples have the best and most frequent sex, and adultery is relatively uncommon.