If you are going to use 'entanglement' to teleport quantum information on a practical scale, it needs to be worked out how entanglement could be 'recycled' to increase the efficiency of these connections.

Writing in 
Physical Review Letters , a group has done just that - mathematically. They have
also devised a generalized form of teleportation, which allows for a wide variety of potential applications in quantum physics.

There is currently a Twitter survey going on to establish a list of favorite philosophers of all time, organized by Oxford University Press.

I don’t know the results yet, but my entries would have to be David Hume (1st prize), Aristotle (2nd) and Bertrand Russell (3rd).

For two decades, carbon dioxide was touted as the silver bullet for halting climate change.  What about methane, what about NO2, and what about soot?

Soot, that black carbon that causes smoggy skies (and has sent Beijing's Pollution Index right off the charts) is the number two contributor to global warming, second to carbon dioxide, according to a four-year assessment by an international panel that is not the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 

The new study concludes that black carbon, the soot particles in smoke and smog, contributes about twice as much to global warming as previously estimated by the 2007 IPCC report.

Want concerns about transmission of disease and antibiotic resistance to get attention?  Show that pretty tropical fish are at risk.

The $15 billion ornamental fish industry has sounded the alarm about antibiotic resistance because of concerns that treatments for fish diseases may not work when needed – and creating yet another mechanism for exposing humans to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The risk to humans is minor unless they frequently work with fish or have compromised immune systems, researchers said, but more serious is the risk to this industry, which has grown significantly in recent years, and is now a $900 million annual business just in the United States.

Researchers have discovered a way to stimulate the brain's natural defense mechanisms in people with Alzheimer's disease. 

One of the main characteristics of Alzheimer's disease is the production in the brain of the toxic molecule amyloid beta. Microglial cells, the nervous system's defenders, are unable to eliminate this substance, which forms deposits called senile plaques. 

Scientists have established that the majority of ozone-depleting iodine oxide observed over the remote ocean comes from a previously unknown marine source - the principal source of iodine oxide can be explained by emissions of hypoiodous acid (HOI), a gas not yet considered as being released from the ocean, along with a contribution from molecular iodine (I2).

Since the 1970s when methyl iodide (CH3I) was discovered as ubiquitous in the ocean, the presence of iodine in the atmosphere has been understood to arise mainly from emissions of organic compounds from phytoplankton -- microscopic marine plants.

January 10th came and went last week. Did you notice? Perhaps you did if losing weight was part of your New Year's Resolution.

Because chances are that by day 10 you were off the wagon.

What could you give up for the entire year?  New survey results show that Facebook and Twitter are easy to cast off but pizza, potato chips and french fries are far more difficult. Of the 1,000 individuals in the American general population surveyed,  25 percent said the loss of social media would make 2013 difficult while 39 percent said giving up pizza and other favorite foods would be hardest.

The HIrisPlex DNA analysis system
that can establish hair and eye color from forensic samples in modern crime scenes can also identify details from ancient human remains, according to a paper which used the system to reconstruct hair and eye color from teeth up to 800 years old.

The system looks at 24 DNA polymorphisms, naturally occurring variations, which can be used to predict eye and hair color  from human remains such as teeth and bones.

Gravity is an amazing force. It can grow enormous structures in the universe. If you ever find yourself under a dark night sky at a spot far away from city light, have a look at the constellation Andromeda. With bare eyes you should just be able to spot a tiny smudge in this constellation. You need good eyes that are well adapted to the dark, and the moon with its overwhelming brightness needs to be out of sight. And it definitely helps if you happen to carry with you a pair of binoculars.

Aaron H. Swartz was one of the most outspoken and hands-on activists for the transparency movement, which I largely support. He was especially active with open access issues and copyright reform.  He was part of the team that built an early version of Reddit and the widely-used RSS protocol, which he worked on at age 14, and there is more to his name inspite of his young age.  But he committed suicide in New York last Friday.