Category Archive: microbiology

May 18 2013

Them crazy ants!

There’s a new ant threat here in Texas and several other southern states. Good news, they’re not giant atomic ants! But these normal sized ants are said to make fire ants look polite, they’re affectionately nicknamed crazy ants:

Jan 28 2013

Pristine samples from under-ice lake hit paydirt

Ice_Streams_in_Antarctica

Scientists successfully retrieved the first samples from a buried lake in Antarctica today. Initial reports are there’s already some fossil gold in hand:

Dec 14 2012

How is this judge still employed?

299px-Sperm-egg

When last we left the strangely popular field of pseudo-physiology and rape favored by wingnut commentators even their peers were begging them to STFU. Now this idiot judge in California wants you ladies to know that unless your vagina is shredded, it’s not real rape, or something:

Aug 03 2012

Rogue stem cells may fuel brain & colon cancers

Without populations of adults stem cells in our tissues we’d be screwed. There would be no way to heal after injury or disease. But they come at a price, stem cells can mutate, lose their off switch or go astray, replicating fast and integrating into the circulatory system, they can form a cluster of cells that are …

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Jul 27 2012

It’s a termite Jihad!

TermiteJihad

If you think humans are the only ones dumb enough to pack explosives around themselves in the hope of blowing up enemies, think again. Termites do it, and they utilize the suicide bomb to disperse Weapons of Mass Destruction!

Jul 12 2012

DNA study finds New World settled in three waves

Lots of speculation about how the New World was populated by the old may have been answered by an exhaustive DNA study. The findings: the Americas were settled in three waves from northeast Asia beginning at least 15,000 years ago:

Feb 17 2012

Researchers report embryonic stem cells reversed blindness

Imagine how restoring sight to the blind using embryonic stem cells would put the inane debate over contraception and personhood into stark perspective. That’s exactly what could happen given a report from embryonic stem cells researchers:

Feb 15 2012

What we’re losing with cuts to planetary exploration

Curiosity_rover

Yesterday’s WH budget proposal for NASA, with deep cuts to future planetary science to the whopping tune of $300 million , didn’t exactly come as a shock. That’s the news reporters have been hearing and writing about for weeks. But if those changes are implemented it comes at a price. In this case, the price could be postponing …

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Feb 14 2012

New Alzheimer’s drug spurs hope among the desperate

If there’s a more inhuman neurological disease than Alzheimer’s, I don’t want to know about it. Because the big “A” is bad enough. Stealing away precious memories and bodily functions alike, leaving behind a confused, amnesiac husk of a person when they should be enjoying the fruits of their labor and grandchildren. It’s not surprising a …

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Feb 08 2012

Ancient Antarctic lake said to be reached: samples coming this year

Schematic of subglacial lake in Antarctica, image courtesy RT, click for more info

Russian researchers working feverishly at the height of Antarctica’s brief summer say they have successfully pierced the ancient vault of a sub-glacial lake sealed under ice for millions of years. But it’ll be awhile before we know the answer to the big question, can microbial life of some kind still exist in the alien environment of Lake Vostok?

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