For decades scientists have been speculating about the origin of ultra-high energy cosmic rays, the incredibly powerful charged particles that travel across the cosmos, then set off a series of reactions as they smash through Earth's atmosphere. They're extremely rare, showing up only once per century for a given square mile.

Now astrophysicsts using the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina, which has detectors spread across 1,200 square miles, recently reported that they traced the rays back to their source. It appears likely that cosmic rays are born within active galactic nuclei. These galaxies, which have massive black holes at their centers, are busily churning up stars, gas and dust, generating hugely energetic reactions. The ultra-high energy rays are just one of the products. The work is published in the latest issue of the journal Science.—Gregory Mone

Looking for a foolproof way to horrify your mother and drive away your significant other? Consider giving them each one of Utah-based fashion designer Jared Gold's newest works: a live insect brooch. Gold recently released a line of accessories consisting of live Madagascar cockroaches embedded with colorful crystals and outfitted with leashes that can be attached to a person's clothing. Each bejeweled roach sells for $80 and comes with an instruction manual on how to clean and feed it (they like bananas, apparently). One caveat—well, OK, there's lots of caveats but this one is really important: Entomologist Shripat Kamble of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln tells the journal Science that "hissing cockroaches secrete certain irritants a lot of people are allergic to." Still enticed? Yeah, that's what we thought. —Nicole Dyer