Can the red-breasted American passenger pigeon, hunted to extinction a century ago, be revived from museum specimens? Yes, say geneticist George Church of Harvard University and his colleagues. See how it could be done in this video.
Officials say the number of pig carcasses found in Shanghai’s Huangpu River has risen to nearly 6,000. In a statement, Shanghai authorities said that 5,916 dead pigs had been removed from the river by Tuesday. But they said water from the river was safe, with water quality meeting government-set standards. It is believed that the pigs may have come from… Read more →
The danger posed by growing resistance to antibiotics should be ranked along with terrorism on a list of threats to the nation, the government’s chief medical officer for England has said. Professor Dame Sally Davies described it as a “ticking time bomb”. She warned that routine operations could become deadly in just 20 years if we lose the ability to… Read more →
Russian scientists have claimed the discovery of a new type of bacterial life in water from a buried Antarctic lake. The researchers have been studying samples brought up from Vostok – the largest subglacial lake in Antarctica. Last year, the team drilled through almost 4km (2.34 miles) of ice to reach the lake and retrieve samples. Vostok is thought to… Read more →
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) ATLANTA (CBSMiami) – An antibiotic-resistant family of bacteria continues to spread throughout the U.S. health care system and is now prompting warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bacteria, Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), kill up to half of the patients who get the bloodstream infections from the disease. The disease has evolved a… Read more →
Photo Discovered on BBC Scientists have connected the brains of lab rats, allowing one to communicate directly to another via cables. The wired brain implants allowed sensory and motor signals to be sent from one rat to another, creating the first ever brain-to-brain interface. The scientists then tested whether the rat receiving the signal could correctly interpret the information. As… Read more →
Photo Credit: REUTERS/Health Protection Agency/Handout (Reuters) – The emergence of a deadly virus previously unseen in humans that has already killed half those known to be infected requires speedy scientific detective work to figure out its potential. Experts in virology and infectious diseases say that while they already have unprecedented detail about the genetics and capabilities of the novel coronavirus, or… Read more →
Los Angeles police over the weekend warned officers who patrol the skid row area to wear protective masks and minimize face-to-face contact with suspects or the public if there is reason to believe that they are infected with tuberculosis. The warning, contained in an internal communication to officers and employees in the department’s Central Division, comes after The Times reported… Read more →
The widely used insect repellent Deet appears to be losing its effectiveness against mosquitoes, scientists say. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine say mosquitoes are first deterred by the substance, but then later ignore it. They say more research is needed to find alternatives to Deet, which was first developed by the US military. The research… Read more →
(Photo courtesy of Sandia National Laboratories) Albuquerque, N.M. (CBS LAS VEGAS) – Researchers have developed mammalian “zombie” cells that can actually function more effectively after dying. By replicating a near-perfect version of a living mammalian cell, University of New Mexico researchers have created cells that not only look identical, but are also more apt to survive adverse conditions than the… Read more →
