* Domino effect: A NASA study finds declining snow cover in the Himalayas generates rising temperatures—and monsoons. The storms in turn churn up Arabian Sea nutrients, leading to massive PHYTOPLANKTON BLOOMS—up 350 percent in seven years.

*  The U.S. Geological Survey reports that 13 AMERICAN VOLCANOES—9 in the Cascade Range in the Pacific Northwest—could erupt on short notice.

*  Clinical tests show people SOLVE PROBLEMS FASTER  when lying down. Sitting or standing triggers norepinephrine, a stress hormone that reduces the ability to reason and pay attention to detail.

*  The Cassini orbiter detects complex hydrocarbons in the ATMOSPHERE OF TITAN, Saturn’s largest moon. The information could help determine the origins of organic matter in the solar system.

*  Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and the National Cancer Institute say OVERWEIGHT PEOPLE have a lower risk of death than those of normal weight.

*  Georgia Institute of Technology scientists design a portable instrument that can identify BRAIN INJURIES, such as concussions, in seven minutes.

*  Utah paleontologists find a new species of dinosaur, 125 million years old, that provides clues about how MEAT-EATING RAPTORS evolved into vegetarians.

*  University of Tennessee scientists grow viable human egg cells from OVARIAN STEM CELLS. The breakthrough could lead to new infertility treatments and be used to delay menopause for 10 years.

* Like Ohio, Kansas may soon require that educators tell students about alternatives to DARWIN’S THEORY of evolution.

*  The IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER, long believed to be extinct and last seen in 1944, is sighted—and videotaped—in the Big Woods of Arkansas.

*  A Swiss ski resort wraps 43,000 square feet of the Gurschen glacier in a reflective sheet to foil the effects of GLOBAL WARMING.