Found mention of this on reddit and on PhysOrg. Researchers from Bangor University dredged up a clam that appears to be 400 years old, making it the oldest living thing ever discovered.

A team of scientists from Bangor University’s School of Ocean Sciences believe they have found an animal which did just that, a quahog clam, [...]

With plants!

New Scientist reports on a sordid study of the pulsing, fetid origins of life as scientists plunge into an ancient plant’s hot, stinky sex life. It involves rancid odors and bugs called “thrips”:

For approximately four weeks a year, cycads go through a pollination period. During this time, male cones use energy stored within them to raise their [...]

New Scientist discusses a joyous discovery inside our skulls – the bits of the brain responsible for optimism:

Elizabeth Phelps at the New York University, US, and colleagues measured how optimistic 15 volunteers were using a standard questionnaire. The researchers then asked these subjects to lie in a brain scanner and reflect on one of a number of [...]

Click for larger image

For the last of our month-of-Sputnik space art posts, here’s more imagery of the hematite plains of Mars.

This false-color infrared image from the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) on NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter shows the presence of hematite – a kind of iron oxide indicating the presence of water – on a section of [...]

Science Daily reports that AIDS might finally be on the way out:

With the latest advances in treatment, doctors have discovered that they can successfully neutralise the HIV virus. The so-called ‘combination therapy’ prevents the HIV virus from mutating and spreading, allowing patients to rebuild their immune system to the same levels as the rest of the population.

It’s a [...]

Reuters reports that China is taking its next step into space with the Chang’e One lunar orbiter launch this week:

The launch of the Chang’e One orbiter is set for Wednesday at 1000 GMT but could take place on the two days after then, depending on conditions, spokesman for the China National Space Administration, Li Guoping, told [...]

Nature brings news of a potential fuel for tomorrow growing wild in Africa and India. It’s called jatropha, and it could possibly be ideal for cultivation – oil that grows on trees, in other words:

The use of Jatropha as a potential Biodiesel feedstock in Egypt is the focus of an ongoing US-Egypt joint investigation. “Biodiesel [...]

SONG: “Something in the Air” (To download: right-click & “Save As”)

ARTIST: grant. Hello there.

SOURCE: “Lap dancers ‘in heat’ are the ones to watch”, New Scientist, 11 Oct 2007, as mentioned in the post “Stripper Experiment Finds Invisible Mating Signals.”

ABSTRACT: I chose this scientific discovery because duh, hello. Invisible sex [...]

The BBC has published directions for building your own history-making satellite:

In simple terms, the Sputnik satellite was a metal sphere almost 2ft (61cm) in diameter, containing a radio transmitter. It also had a battery; equipment to measure temperature; barometric and temperature activated switches; and a fan to stop it getting too hot.

It sent its famous “beep beep” radio [...]