Practice At Getting The Gist, continued

Excerpt 1

Researchers have never directly observed the formation or existence of these super-heavy elements. The emission of hydrogen nuclei, presumably from the elements' decay, is the only evidence that the experiments have succeeded.

Gist:
We've never seen whether these things exist, and never seen them formed. But something IS visible that says to us, Yes, they do exist.

Excerpt 2

As usually constituted and manipulated, the pool, which in many venues is simply a compilation of lists of registered voters, is unlikely to yield fair juries, especially since so many potential jurors are excused either at their own request or as a result of peremptory challenges.

Gist:
The normal jury isn't very fair.

For all the wordiness and jargon, this excerpt is really not saying too much. If a question asks about the fairness issue you can read this sentence with greater interest. But "The normal jury isn't very fair" is OK for now.