Here's a couple of interesting links I accumulated over the past few weeks :

- Probe finds 'frightening' MRSA levels at ERI
- Rattlesnakes Thrive in Iowa Prairie
- Scientists Turn From Brown to Green Chemistry
- Home test kits for STD's are effective
- After Years of Drought, Great Salt Lake Rising
- Endangered Condors Soar Over Grand Canyon
- Jamestown Remains Excavated in England
- Museum 'Iceman' Might Be Contaminated
- Second possible case of mad cow in the U.S.
- When in Russia, drink vodka
- Tsunami Pushes Leatherback Turtles Toward Extinction

Still working on the comments/forum hybrid system. I need to integrate non-news related posts made on the forum in the 'recent comments' section, which should be trivial. I also stopped some of the spam I've been getting recently; I still need to find a mod for phpBB allowing me to disallow posts containing certain words (I only found word censors), put up a login thing on the mainpage (right now you gotta login throught the forum, which is awkward) and fix some random problems.

Previous studies have demonstrated that the brains of alcoholics are smaller, lighter and "shrunken" when compared to nonalcoholic brains. Symposium speakers at the October 2004 Congress for the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism in Mannheim, Germany reviewed what is known about the causes, consequences and clinical implications of alcohol-related brain shrinkage. Proceedings are published in the June issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Regenerative medicine scientists at the University of Florida's McKnight Brain Institute have created a system in rodent models that for the first time duplicates neurogenesis -- the process of generating new brain cells -- in a dish.

Writing in today's (June 13) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers describe a cell culture method that holds the promise of producing a limitless supply of a person's own brain cells to potentially heal disorders such as Parkinson's disease or epilepsy.

A team of scientists at the University of Chicago has developed a non-invasive laboratory technique that allows them to instantly map when genes are switching off and on in a living bacterium as it becomes exposed to antibiotics and other changes in its environment.

The technique, which is announced in the Monday, June 13 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help scientists discover new drugs and learn to what extent some RNA molecules help control the blueprint of life.

Catch an athlete with clear potential early in his career, study his physiology over an incredibly eventful seven years including victory in the Tour de France, and you might uncover some incredibly important, indeed amazing facts about what training and dedication can accomplish.

Researchers may be on the verge of exploiting the vulnerabilities of a virus that causes cervical cancer, thanks to a newly developed technique that enables scientists to mass-produce human papillomavirus (HPV) in the laboratory.

Twenty-eight years after intense selective logging stopped in the region now known as Uganda's Kibale National Park, the red-tailed guenon (Cercophithecus ascanius) is a primate still in decline. The logging practice, scientists report in a new study, changed the ecological balance for these monkeys, leading to behavioral changes and opening the door for multiple parasitic infections.

Affymetrix Inc. and ParAllele BioScience Inc., today announced the recent launch of a broad line of MegAllele(TM) assays for targeted single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping applications. Co-developed during a two-year collaboration between the two companies, the assay products work with Affymetrix' industry standard GeneChip(R) Scanner (GCS) 3000 System with a newly available MegAllele four-color capability, to easily and cost- effectively genotype panels containing up to 10,000 custom or pre-defined SNPs. As announced on May 31, Affymetrix has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ParAllele. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2005.

President Bush claims to have tripled US aid to Africa, yet he has set the Global Fund on a course to disaster. While promising to back the Fund, the cut he has proposed to the US contribution to the Fund could lead to a massive reduction in HIV/AIDS prevention and care for orphans.