Some exciting news about making it much harder for HIV to grab ahold of your immune system.
From Wired:
Viruses enter cells and take them over, but to get inside, they need a handhold. HIV pulls itself in by grabbing onto a protein called CCR5, which decorates the surface of T-cells, which are one of the two [...]

After reading this short interview in the NY Times Magazine, I liking this guy’s approach…
Is it fair to describe you as socially progressive?
I think it is fair to describe me as a common-sense Republican.
Which implies that some Republicans lack common sense.
That’s possible.
You have supported stem-cell research, unlike most Republicans.
I do support that. I think it [...]

That’s what NASA is saying, and where there’s water there could be life…however microscopic it may be:
Whitish, dice-sized chunks, which were dug from the rocky red soil and warmed in the sun, vanished four days after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Phoenix probe dug them up June 15. They confirm what NASA satellites have [...]

Wow. I really never thought I’d see the day.
But how does this square with the Bible?
From the AP:
VATICAN CITY - Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican’s chief astronomer said in an interview published Tuesday.
The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the [...]

To be fair, I haven’t read My Beautiful Mommy, but still…that title is pretty bad.
If this is just a book about the idea that “mommy” is going to have some work done and how to explain it to a kid, that’s one thing. But if it’s more of a story about “transformation” from normal [...]

From Fox News:
A recent study found that an ancient elephant ancestor called Moeritherium spent most of its time in rivers and swamps.
Scientists knew that elephants are related to modern aquatic creatures such as manatees, but they had never identified an ancient elephant relative that lived in water.
No wonder they’re wrinkly.

For every time the word “irony” is used correctly, there are approximately three hundred incorrect uses. (No, it is not “ironic” that it rained on the day you had planned a picnic.) The following, on the other hand, is ironic. Read it and giggle nervously:
A new form of cloning has been developed that is easier [...]

Very interesting development that could help address the big bio-fuel scam we’re currently being sold.
From CNN:
ANTHONY, Texas (CNN) — Texas may be best known for “Big Oil.” But the oil that could some day make a dent in the country’s use of fossil fuels is small. Microscopic, in fact: algae. Literally and figuratively, this is [...]

Looks like they’re offering $4M in grants to therapies like yoga, Reiki, Qi gong, spiritual ministry and transcendental meditation.
Groovy…
From Wired:
As many as 17 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have some form of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, one congressional study estimates. Nearly 3,300 troops have suffered traumatic brain injury, or TBI, according to statistics [...]

Background here.

Amazing…

Here’s more background…
The information reveals a trove of interesting population patterns. By looking at the neighborhoods where the data came from, researchers determined that New Yorkers who engage in global gab tend to be on the high end of the socio-economic scale or struggling to make ends meet. Translation: international business and professional people or [...]

Found over at Sully’s place:
One might even wonder if a McCain presidency, combined with a Democratic Congress, offers the best chance for a bipartisan-yet-still-decent emissions-reduction bill to get enacted and stay enacted. (Think Schwarzenegger and health care in California.) I’m skeptical, but it’s not an outlandish argument.
I think we’re all very well aware that the [...]

I think I speak for all the teenagers in the world when I say, “Let’s do it!”
From NY Times:
Research shows that teenagers’ body clocks are set to a schedule that is different from that of younger children or adults. This prevents adolescents from dropping off until around 11 p.m., when they produce the sleep-inducing hormone [...]

One theory that’s gaining a lot of steam suggests it has to do with honing our survival instinct by stimulating potential threat scenarios in our subconsciousness.
From Psychology Today:
The dreaming brain [...] scans emotional memories. When it detects a memory trace with a strong negative emotion, it constructs a nightmare around that theme. The more [...]

And by the way, we should too…
The words “war on terror” will no longer be used by the British government to describe attacks on the public, the country’s chief prosecutor said Dec. 27.
Sir Ken Macdonald said terrorist fanatics were not soldiers fighting a war but simply members of an aimless “death cult.”
The Director of Public [...]

A company called Nanosolar says they’ve cracked the code by creating a way to manufacture solar cells 100x faster and 100x thinner.
From solve climate:
While other companies have been focusing their efforts on increasing the efficiency of solar panels, Nanosolar took a different approach. It focused on manufacturing.
Essentially, they’ve figured out how to print solar cells [...]

A researcher emailed us and asked if you all might be interested in taking this test. Naturally, I’ve already made myself a guinea pig and it’s an interesting, if a bit long, look at certain perceptions we have based solely on comparisons between candidates.
Check it out if you have 15 minutes today.

Well, not exactly, but it might help.
This according to a very interesting article in the Wash Post today that details how divorce is hurting the environment…
The analysis found that cohabiting couples and families around the globe use resources more efficiently than households that have split up. The researchers calculated that in 2005, divorced American households [...]

From the NY Times:
Two teams of scientists reported yesterday that they had turned human skin cells into what appear to be embryonic stem cells without having to make or destroy an embryo — a feat that could quell the ethical debate troubling the field.
All they had to do, the scientists said, was add four [...]

It appears as if this is the case.
From NY Times:
Two teams of scientists are reporting today that they turned human skin cells into what appear to be embryonic stem cells without having to make or destroy an embryo — a feat that could quell the ethical debate troubling the field.
All they had to do, [...]