A century ago, “past” and “future”, previously strictly apart, mixed up and merged.  Temporal terminology improved.  Today, not actualized quantum states, that is merely “possible” alternatives, objectively “exist” (are real) when they interfere.  Again, two previously strictly immiscible realms mix. 

Almost three years have passed since the US patent for a Domestic Animal Telephone was issued. The patent describes :

“A phone for pets and pet owners is taught [sic?] which allows the owner to call the house and ‘talk’ to the pet”.

But then, in Feb. 2011 a new patent was issued (also entitled 'Domestic Animal Telephone') to the same inventors – at first glance strikingly similar to the original :

Studies are revealing new details about a molecular surveillance system that helps detect and correct errors in cell division that can lead to cell death or human diseases.

The purpose of cell division is to evenly distribute the genome between two daughter cells. To achieve this, every chromosome must properly interact with a football-shaped structure called the spindle. However, interaction errors between the chromosomes and spindle during division are amazingly common, occurring in 86 to 90 percent of chromosomes, says cell biologist Thomas Maresca at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The key to flawless cell division is to correct dangerous interactions before the cell splits in two.  

“It is demonstrable,” said he, “that things cannot be otherwise than as they are; for as all things have been created for some end, they must necessarily be created for the best end. Observe, for instance, the nose is formed for spectacles, therefore we wear spectacles. The legs are visibly designed for stockings, accordingly we wear stockings.”

- Candide by Voltaire

Humans are unique among the great apes (of which we are one) in various ways. One of them is our possession of a very long Achilles tendon, which is quite short in chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans.

Safe, Tasty, Nutritious Almonds We Shouldn't Take For Granted

Sometimes we need to hear about things that are working well in our food system.  I'd like to describe a case where sound regulation and well-applied technology combine to protect us from a significant risk posed by a natural chemical called Aflatoxin - one of the most toxic and carcinogenic chemicals known.  

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is going to take the field in two hours and it won't just be a vindication of the decision by coach Jim Harbaugh to replace Alex Smith and his 13-3 run with a passer rating over 100 - Harbaugh can't lose in the eyes of the public even if the team does - it will be a vindication of science.

Public health scholars in Spain say they have done the first comparative study on the evolution of sperm quality in young Spanish men and found that over a ten year period, spermatozoid concentration in men between 18 and 23 years in the regions of Murcia and Almeria has dropped by an annual average of 2%. 

The multidisciplinary study headed by the Department of Preventative Medicine and Public Health of the University of Murcia (UMU) found that "total sperm count and concentration has declined amongst young men in the south-east of Spain in the last decade." More specifically, the decrease amounts to 38%.

Arctic sea ice has not only declined over the past decade but has also become distinctly thinner and younger - mainly thin, first-year ice floes which are extensively covered with melt ponds in the summer months where once meter-thick, multi-year ice used to float.

Researchers have now measured the light transmission through the Arctic sea ice for the first time on a large scale, enabling them to quantify consequences of this change. They come to the conclusion that in places where melt water collects on the ice, far more sunlight and therefore energy is able to penetrate the ice than is the case for white ice without ponds.

Cyanobacteria belong to the Earth's oldest organisms. They are still present today in oceans and waters and even in hot springs. By producing oxygen and evolving into multicellular forms, they played a key role in the emergence of organisms that breathe oxygen.

A team of scientists under the supervision and instruction of evolutionary biologists from the University of Zurich wrote a paper showing that cyanobacteria developed multicellularity around one billion years earlier than eukaryotes (cells with one true nucleus) and at almost the same time as multicellular cyanobacteria appeared, a process of oxygenation began in the oceans and in the Earth's atmosphere.  

A new view of 20,000-year old supernova remnant W50 provides more clues to the history of this giant cloud that resembles a beloved endangered species, the Florida Manatee. W50 is nearly 700 light years across,  so it covers two degrees on the sky - the span of four full Moons