Quasars are the luminous centers of distant galaxies powered by huge black holes.  Although black holes are noted for pulling material in, most quasars also accelerate some of the material around them and eject it at high speed.

Many theoretical simulations suggest that the impact of these outflows on the galaxies around them may resolve several enigmas in modern cosmology, including how the mass of a galaxy is linked to its central black hole mass, and why there are so few large galaxies in the Universe. However, whether or not quasars were capable of producing outflows powerful enough to produce these phenomena has remained unclear until now.

The newest Access to Medicine Index, which ranks pharmaceutical companies on their efforts to improve access to medicine in developing countries, shows that the industry, led by
GlaxoSmithKline, is doing more than critics claim.

The Access to Medicine Index is an independent initiative that provides insight into what the world's leading pharmaceutical companies are doing for the millions of people in developing countries who do not have reliable access to safe, effective and affordable medicines, vaccines and other health-related technologies. It is published every two years.

The Galapagos giant tortoise, the largest living species of tortoise (and in the top 10 reptiles), likes to move around. 

We know this because scientists with the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and the Charles Darwin Foundation have used GPS technology and 3-D acceleration measurements to find out that the dominant male tortoise will wander up to 10 kilometers into the highlands of the island - but only the fully grown animals migrate, the young tortoises stay in the lowlands.

Why?  And why don't they rest during the dry season?  It's a Chelonoidis nigra mystery of science.

Researchers have discovered that a virus commonly found in dogs may lead to a breakthrough in human vaccine development.

Parainfluenza virus 5, or PIV5, is harmless to humans but is thought to contribute to upper respiratory infections in dogs, and is a common target for canine vaccines designed to prevent kennel cough. In a new paper, researchers describe how this virus could be used in humans to protect against diseases that have eluded vaccine efforts so far.

Three new collembolan species have been discovered in the Maestrazgo caves in Teruel, Spain. Their description has been published in the Zootaxa journal and belong to one of the most ancient animal species on the planet. 

The Maestrazgo caves in Teruel are located in a region of the Iberian Range. It is an isolated region with average altitudes between 1,550 meters and 2,000 meters above sea level and and a climate only the Scottish could enjoy, with temperatures ranging from -40°C to -25°C. Inside the
Maestrazgo
caves, the temperatures are a more hospitable 5-11°C.

Berkeley, CA — The installed price of solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems in the United States fell substantially in 2011 and through the first half of 2012, according to the latest edition of Tracking the Sun, an annual PV cost-tracking report produced by the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

The median installed price of residential and commercial PV systems completed in 2011 fell by roughly 11 to 14 percent from the year before, depending on system size, and, in California, prices fell by an additional 3 to 7 percent within the first six months of 2012. These recent installed price reductions are attributable, in large part, to dramatic reductions in PV module prices, which have been falling precipitously since 2008.