Genes are portions of DNA that contain just the right codes to specify proteins, which make everything in cells work. But how does the cell know which protein should be manufactured, how often, how much, or how fast? If it doesn't get these right, then cellular disaster results.

Science is often portrayed as a pure pursuit of knowledge, with well-trained individuals who are dedicated to the highest standards of intellectual and professional achievement.

In the summer of 2002, record rainfall in the Texas Hill Country overfilled Canyon Lake. Water coursed over the top of its dam and carved huge, steep-walled canyons through the limestone bedrock downstream. The scoured riverbed, now called Canyon Lake Gorge, is over a mile long and has been cordoned off for scientific study.

A dazzling array of amber in a rainbow of colors has been discovered at Cape York in far north Australia. Plant and mammal parts, as well as insects and other arthropods, are trapped inside the gems, which formed from tree resin.

Craig Venter, who led the first privately funded sequencing of the human genome, has for fifteen years been spearheading a team effort to make "synthetic life." He announced victory on May 20, 2010, and the research was published online in the journal Science. This is considered a significant breakthrough, as for the first time scientists claim to have created a "living organism."