Biomedical engineers at Boston University have taught bacteria how to count.  The researchers have wired a new sequence of genes that allow the microbes to count discrete events, opening the door for a host of potential applications, which could include drug delivery and sensing environmental hazards. 

The young but burgeoning field of synthetic biology addresses biological research questions with an engineering approach. Researchers design and build networks of genes, splicing them into bacterial genomes to run specific tasks or manufacture desired molecules – a process akin to installing biological computer software. Though the field is rapidly advancing, the gene-based tools available to synthetic biologists remain limited. 

How common is scientific misconduct?   It's a tough question to answer.   Scandals like Hwang Woo-Suk's faked stem-cell lines or Jon Sudbø's made-up cancer trials have demonstrated that fraudulent research is easy to publish, even in the most prestigious print journals, but are they deviations of a few "bad apples" or evidence that a great deal more is never discovered?  The actual numbers are a matter of dispute.

In a PLoS ONE meta-analysis of surveys questioning scientists about their misbehaviors, Daniele Fanelli of the University of Edinburgh, a PhD in the behavior and genetics of Malaysian and Panamanian tropical wasps, suggests that altering or making up data is more frequent than previously estimated and might be particularly high in medical research.

Researchers using data from NASA's THEMIS mission have pinpointed the impact epicenter of an earthbound space storm as it crashes into the atmosphere - and given an advance warning of its arrival. The team's study reveals that magnetic blast waves can be used to pinpoint and predict the location where space storms dissipate their massive amounts of energy. These storms can dump the equivalent of 50 gigawatts of power, or the output of 10 of the world's largest power stations, into Earth's atmosphere.

The joint Japan-U.S. Suzaku mission is providing new insight into how assemblages of thousands of galaxies pull themselves together and, for the first time, Suzaku has detected X-ray-emitting gas at a cluster's outskirts, where a billion-year plunge to the center begins.

Suzaku ("red bird of the south") was launched on July 10, 2005. The observatory was developed at the Japanese Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), which is part of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), in collaboration with NASA and other Japanese and U.S. institutions.

A team of physicists and engineers have demonstrated all-fibre quantum logic, where single photons are generated and used to perform the contolled-NOT quantum logic gate in optical fibers with high fidelity.

The only quantum technology in practical use today is quantum cryptography and is currently limited in the distance over which secure communication may occur.

More sophisticated quantum networks will require multiple nodes with the ability to implement small-scale quantum processing in order to increase the range of quantum communications. Such networks will rely on optical fibre links, making fibre-based photon generation and information processing of key technological importance.

If you watched "Angels&Demons" recently, you may have thought particle physics was just about scary science that could do real harm on the chance it may do future good.  

Not so, though most people don't realize the impact particle physics has had on society.   Particle physics saves lives, connects continents through new channels of communication and generally helps us understand the world around us.   In many ways it inspires tomorrow’s leaders.

While the perils associated with particle physics, from Earth-gobbling black holes to Vatican-destroying amounts of antimatter, gain news headlines, it’s easy to overlook the large economic and societal benefits of particle physics research.