An international research team has identified a new superbug that caused a bloodstream infection in a Brazilian patient.

The new superbug is part of a class of highly-resistant bacteria known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA, which is a major cause of hospital and community-associated infections. The superbug has also acquired high levels of resistance to vancomycin, the most common and least expensive antibiotic used to treat severe MRSA infections worldwide.

The world could be less than 40 years away from a food shortage that will have serious implications for people and governments, according to a senior science advisor at the U.S. Agency for International Development. It's not Paul Ehrlich/John Holdren Doomsday Prophet levels of gloom, but it's a sign we need to keep science advancing.

Children with Tourette syndrome may unconsciously train their brain to more effectively control their tics.

How so? A recent study found that teenagers diagnosed with  Tourette syndrome   were slower than typical peers when asked to perform a task that involved them simply moving their eyes to look at targets but buterr when the task was more demanding and required them to choose between looking at or away from targets. They were as fast as their peers but made fewer eye movements in the wrong direction.

Researchers have reported a big improvement in the distance of wireless power.   Their "Dipole Coil Resonant System (DCRS) boosts the extended range of inductive power transfer up to 5 meters between transmitter and receiver coils. 

It's not quite the rumors about Nikola Tesla but if you think that's not a lot, ponder that Bluetooth is only slightly greater after 15 years in progress.

A recent Newsweek article claimed that the mystery of the brains behind Bitcoin had been solved - and Dorian S. Nakamoto was the guy.

The primary author of the celebrated cryptocurrency Bitcoin paper has remained unknown. Bitcoin is an Internet-based virtual currency which allows users to buy goods and services online. The payment system, introduced in 2009, is supposedly easier and safer than sending money via more traditional means. Using Bitcoin to pay for items also means avoiding credit card, foreign exchange or cash handling fees.

A statistical analysis determines that in India’s agriculture sector following the liberalization of the nation’s economy during the 1990s,  suicides among small, debt-ridden farmers - who are clinging to tiny holdings, less than one hectare - and are trying to grow cash crops, such as cotton and coffee, that are highly susceptible to global price fluctuations - have been the result.

By contrast, areas such as Gujarat, in which cash crops are mainly cultivated on large-scale farms, have low suicide rates. Wealthy cash crop farmers have the resources to weather difficult economic periods without falling into debt and ruin. It's rare to see academics arguing for giant farms over small, family-owned ones.