* Northwestern University seismologists say the earthquake that set off the Dec. 26 tsunami was THREE TIMES LARGER than originally thought. It was the second-largest earthquake ever recorded.

* Astronomers using the giant Keck I telescope in Hawaii have found a hot spot at SATURN’S SOUTH POLE. Infrared images indicate a warm polar area, part of a large-scale weather pattern similar to the jet stream on Earth.

* The United Kingdom gave Scottish geneticist Ian Wilmut, who cloned Dolly the sheep in 1997, a license to CLONE HUMAN EMBRYOS. He plans to use the clones to study motor neuron disease.

* PRESCRIPTION DRUG DEATHS go up 25 percent in the first week of every month, says a sociologist at the University of California at San Diego. Pharmacies are busiest at that time, which may underlie the fatalities.

*  Yale researchers say tributyltin oxide, a chemical used to keep barnacles off boats, may cause HEARING LOSS IN WHALES. The toxin may damage the immune and hormone systems of other marine mammals as well.

* A 1,000-foot-wide ASTEROID will pass near Earth on April 13, 2029, NASA scientists say. It will come closer than satellites in geostationary orbit and will be visible to the naked eye. It is not expected to crash into the planet.

* China is sending an expedition, armed with GPS and radar, to MEASURE MOUNT EVEREST. The world’s highest peak is believed to have shrunk by 50 inches from global warming and glacier loss.

* 2004 was the FOURTH WARMEST YEAR on record, although the continental United States was unusually cool. NASA scientists attributed high temperatures in Alaska, the Antarctic Peninsula, and elsewhere to increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

* The world’s SECOND-LARGEST TREE, a giant sequoia in California, is on the verge of death. Once 254 feet high, it has been damaged by a forest fire and severe weather. Known as the Washington Tree, it is believed to be between 2,500 and 3,200 years old.