MR. NINE-BY-NINE

A postdoctoral student in bioengineering at Stanford University Medical Center is the world champion of sudoku. (Photograph by Alison Yin)

• THE PUZZLE: Can you solve it in 2 minutes, 26 seconds, as Thomas Snyder did?

NO FREE LUNCH: Kent State University gave out coupons for free burritos to students who gave blood. Then some of the students became violently ill.

ARE YOU THE PROFESSOR OR A STUDENT? A New York woman has become the world's youngest college professor after spotting a job ad in The Chronicle.

OLYMPIC FEAT: Meteorologists at the University of Utah will train Canadian forecasters to accurately predict snow temperatures for Nordic ski events at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, in Vancouver.