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The article examines efforts by U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Congress in 1991 to formulate and enact major energy legislation. In outlining his goals, Bush argued that a successful energy policy should neither slow economic growth nor derail "the successful policy of market reliance" that governs the production and distribution of energy. Many energy analysts fear Bush's strategy will not avert a future energy crisis because it tilts too heavily toward promoting existing energy sources and technologies, such as oil and nuclear power, while all but ignoring the role that "end-use" measures, such as conservation and energy efficiency, might play in securing a stable and sustainable energy future. In March, Bush sent to Congress the National Energy Strategy Act of 1991, a bill that includes provisions of his energy strategy that require changes in law. While energy analysts are not yet willing to forecast what policy changes will emerge after Congress concludes its infighting, dealing and compromising, the resulting national energy strategy is widely expected to have a dramatic effect on most, if not all, sectors of energy use. Currently renewable energy sources supply only about 8 percent of the U.S. energy demand, but a March 1990 Department of Energy report calculates that by doubling or tripling renewable energy research and development, these sources could meet 40 percent of U.S. energy demands by the year 2030. The bill would also set up a fund to finance energy-efficiency improvements in federal buildings and would direct the government to install energy-efficiency devices that pay back their cost through energy savings in less than 10 years. INSET: Feds accused of energy waste..

The article examines the threat the Dreissena polymorpha, or zebra mussels, pose for the Great Lakes and other northeastern waters as of 1991. In cities on Lake Erie, water intake pipes provide ideal feeding grounds for the stripe-shelled bivalves, which sift microscopic nutrients from passing water. Flushed into Lake Saint Clair, which lies sandwiched between Lakes Erie and Huron, the immigrant mollusk has spread into all five Great Lakes and other inland waters, including the Erie Canal and the New York State Barge Canal. If allowed to take over and despoil these species' spawning grounds, the mollusks could jeopardize the walleye fishing industry (valued at $900 million a year in Lake Erie alone) and thwart efforts to reintroduce lake trout to the Great Lakes, just as the trout have begun to recover from massive predation by another Great Lakes invader, the sea lamprey.

Discusses research into the defense mechanism of viceroy butterflies. Belief that they protect their bodies from predatory birds by mimicking the coloration of the toxic monarch butterfly; Evidence showing the viceroy's body tastes bad to birds; Avian taste test; Reasons viceroys were assumed to be tasty; Manufactured chemical defense; Mullerian mimic of the monarch; Monarch mimicry of viceroys.

Describes a study of birth defects resulting from unknown causes which shows no association between nonchromosomal defects and advancing maternal age. Statistics on defects and risks of defects.

Discusses a possible mechanism or AIDS dementia, which scientists think might occur when the AIDS virus destroys neurons in the frontal cortex of the brain. Neuronal damage; Use of dissector to measure neuron density; Lack of HIV encephalitis; Research by Ian P. Everall and colleagues at the Denmark Hill Institute of Psychiatry in London; Criticism of the study by Brynmor A. Watkins of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.

The article discusses a new test known as ion-trap technology. Because the Food and Drug Administration relies on outdated technology to test food for dangerous pesticide residues, its routine screening assays can detect only 40 percent of all U.S. pesticides in use today. But a new test may one day help increase FDA's odds of catching foods harboring some of the most toxic residues. The experimental assay already picks up most pesticides suspected of causing cancer. Twenty-eight of the more than 300 pesticides currently approved for use on U.S. crops have been formally designated as suspected carcinogens. Gregory C. Mattern and colleagues at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., now report that an "ion trap" mass spectrometer can simultaneously detect minute amounts of up to 17 of these (in any of the nine common crops they tested)--and a host of other pesticides as well.

The article reports on the United States National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recommendation that greenhouse-gas emissions be curbed immediately. Despite uncertainties in the science of predicting global climate change, the NAS urges immediate action to curb greenhouse-gas emissions by reducing fossil-fuel consumption, promoting energy conservation, and improving solar and nuclear-energy technologies. For a very low cost, says NAS President Frank Press, the United States could reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions by 10 to 40 percent. The academy report recommends adopting nationwide energy-conserving changes in building codes for residential and commercial structures, boosting the average automobile-fuel efficiency 18 percent (to 32 miles per gallon) and substituting compact fluorescent lights for incandescent bulbs in homes and businesses. The NAS recommendations "parallel" actions specified in the President's National Energy Strategy released in February 1991. Though most environmental groups support the NAS report's call for increased funding for development of new renewable technologies, many also object to some of the report's higher-cost recommendations, including the replacement of most fossil-fueled power plants with a new generation of light-water nuclear reactors now under development.

The article reports on a blood test which can provide early diagnosis for prostate cancer. Men with prostate cancer face some grim statistics. A simple blood test--already used in prostate cancer patients to track their response to chemotherapy--now offers the best hope yet for early diagnosis, report William J. Catalona and his coworkers at Washington University School of Medicine. Catalona's group measured blood levels of prostate-specific antigen, a protein produced exclusively by the prostate gland and present at elevated levels in men with prostate cancer and other prostate diseases. Scientists do not know yet whether earlier detection would improve survival rates for prostate cancer patients as it does for women with breast cancer.

Examines research which appears to show that a gene's expression may depend on which parent contributed that gene. Studies of children suffering from rare forms of mental retardation; Strong support for genomic imprinting in humans; Implications for genetic counseling and research; Unknown causes of imprinting.