PhysOrg announces the discovery of eerie, ancient lifeforms in an Antarctic lake:

The samples obtained from the underground lake in May 2012 contained a bacteria which bore no resemblance to existing types, said Sergei Bulat of the genetics laboratory at the Saint Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics.

“After putting aside all possible elements of contamination, DNA was found that [...]

Scientific American reveals that researchers have found evidence of what they call “microchimerism” – the children’s cells are living in their mother’s brains:

We are accustomed to thinking of ourselves as singular autonomous individuals, and these foreign cells seem to belie that notion, and suggest that most people carry remnants of other individuals. As remarkable as this may be, [...]

Say that five times fast. Harvard Gazette wraps its tendrils around a new way to build springs based on the coiling shoots of cucumber vines:

Harvard researchers, captivated by a strange coiling behavior in the grasping tendrils of the cucumber plant, have characterized a new type of spring that is soft when pulled gently and stiff when pulled strongly.

Instead [...]

NIH reports that cutting calories by two-thirds, contrary to what you might expect, might not add years to your lifespan:

Scientists have found that calorie restriction—a diet comprised of approximately 30 percent fewer calories but with the same nutrients of a standard diet—does not extend years of life or reduce age-related deaths in a 23-year study of rhesus monkeys. [...]

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This is Diphyllobothrium latum, a tapeworm that might make itself at home inside you if you eat undercooked fish. The picture comes from the 80s but it must’ve been pretty retro even then.

From the CDC description:

This diagram depicts the various stages in the life cycle of the tapeworm Diphyllobothrium latum, a cestode.
Diphyllobothriasis occurs in areas [...]

BBC reveals a Japanese project that combines biology, engineering and beauty – spinning violin strings out of spider silk:

Shigeyoshi Osaki of Japan’s Nara Medical University has been interested in the mechanical properties of spider silk for a number of years.

In particular, he has studied the “dragline” silk that spiders dangle from, quantifying its strength in a 2007 [...]

Irish Times reveals the link between lousy decision-making and the hormone linked to lust and aggression:

Dr Nick Wright and colleagues at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at [University College London] tested the impact of testosterone on the levels of co-operative decision-making accomplished by groups. They publish their findings this morning in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society [...]

BBC News ponders what it means for our bodies when Stanford University professors start shuffling around our cellular building blocks. Not turning stem cells into other kinds of cells, but directly transforming skin into brain:

This study created “neural precursor” cells, which can develop into three types of brain cell: neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes.

These precursor cells have the advantage [...]

The Daily is reporting on a revolution. DIY researchers are leaving the academy to take a punk rock approach to science:

Three years ago, [Mackensie] Cowell and his counterpart Jason Bobe, director of community outreach for the Personal Genome Project at Harvard Medical School, founded a movement called Do-It-Yourself Biology, which brings hobbyists to genetics. From its first meeting [...]