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Newscripts section of C&EN has evolved in many ways over the years after it was established in 1943. Complaints over the government's intrusion of people privacy a year before World War II, for example, were expressed in a July 1944 Newscript article. A December 1990 article, on the other hand, criticizes a manual for stress management that is hardly intelligible to laypeople.

Researchers have received U.S. patents for various antioxidants including Kirk S. Kealey (Lancaster, PA) and his colleagues who have assigned their patent to Mars Inc. of McLean VA. The patent covers 'cocoa components, edible products having enriched polyphenol content, methods of making same, and medical uses.' Also mentioned are herbal antioxidants which have been shown to be higher in antioxidants than fruits or vegetables.

Interest in the physiological effects of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) grew when reports spread of medical workers who fainted while trying to resuscitate a patient in the emergency room of the Riverside General Hospital. It was theorized that the patient took DMSO for unknown reasons. The DMSO would then have been converted to dimethyl sulfone, which was then theorized to have oxidized to methyl sulfate, an extremely toxic vapor.

The pigeon control program called 'Pigeon Action' being implemented in Basel, Switzerland, has shown positive results. The program educates the public on the importance of controlling the pigeon population and encourages citizens to stop feeding birds or do so only in designated 'man-pigeon encounter areas. Previous population control efforts focused on killing pigeons or treating them with sterilizing agents. Reports show that the program has enabled a 10,000 reduction in Basel's pigeon population.

Chocolates are very popular during Valentine's Day, a fact that provides a good excuse for chocolate lovers. Chocolate's history is believed to have started in 1502, when Hernando Cortes observed Aztec nobility of Mexico drinking chocolate. He sent the recipe to Spain, where the cacao concoction has since gained widespread popularity. Solid chocolate appeared in 1847 when the English started making the product, and milk chocolate was introduced by the Swiss in 1876.