“Kills 99% of all known germs!” is a common advertising slogan for toilet (and other) cleaning products.  So, where would anyone want to add bacteria rather than take them away?

The answer – rural India, in particular the Lakshadweep Islands off the South-West coast (Clean India Journal, 2010).  If one does not have a nice sewage system to remove one’s waste, then the equivalent of millions of tiny dung-beetles might do the job for you.

Is your laboratory environment something like this?

Recently I was taking pictures of the night sky.  My intention was to photograph the double star Epsilon Lyrae.  It’s actually a double-double, made of two closer pairs, as one can see through a telescope of three-or-more inches aperture.  However, the pairs themselves are quite far apart, and can be easily resolved with the unaided eye.

However, my camera flipped from manual focus (on infinity) to autofocus (on whatever), as it tends to do if not touched for a minute.  To my surprise, the effect was most pleasing.

Isn’t it nice when someone does your work for you?  For some years now, NIL Technololgy have been sending me science news emails as a form of advertising.  Mostly these are to do with nanotechnology, but the most recent directed me to this:
 
Scientists propose a solution to a critical barrier to producing fusion