Scientists in the US have succeeded in developing the first synthetic living cell. The researchers constructed a bacterium’s "genetic software" and transplanted it into a host cell. The resulting microbe then looked and behaved like the species "dictated" by the synthetic DNA. The advance, published in Science, has been hailed as a scientific landmark, but [...]

Charles Darwin, the author of the theory of evolution, may have been right to worry that his children’s health had been affected by the inbreeding in his own family, especially that of his wife, Emma Wedgwood, who was his first cousin. A calculation based on first-cousin marriages over four generations of the two dynasties suggests [...]

Three species of creature, which are only a millimetre long and resemble jellyfish encased in shells, were found 2.2 miles (3.5km) underwater on the ocean floor, 124 miles (200km) off the coast of Crete, in an area with almost no oxygen. The animals, named Loriciferans due to their protective layer, or lorica, were discovered by [...]

Homo habilis lived 2.0-1.6 million years ago and had a wide distribution in Africa Photo: SPL The new species of hominid, the evolutionary branch of primates that includes humans, is to be revealed when the two-million-year-old skeleton of a child is unveiled this week. Scientists believe the almost-complete fossilised skeleton belonged to a previously-unknown type [...]

  Authorities believe a Washington man was killed by accidentally urinating on a downed power line after a car crash. Grays Harbor County sheriff’s Deputy Dave Pimentel (PIM’-en-tel) said Monday 50-year-old Roy Messenger was not seriously hurt after he collided with a power pole Friday and called a relative to pull his car from a [...]

IRVINE – A 57-year-old Costa Mesa man who had his hand severed by a Metrolink train two weeks ago was apparently hit by the same train again Tuesday morning, police said. His injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. Around 7:30 a.m., police and firefighters went to the Irvine Transportation Center after receiving a report [...]

Man nominated for Darwin by DU FYI The man is thought to have constructed the backpack from a used automotive muffler, which he filled with gasoline and gunpowder, “trying to get a rocket-launch effect,” McCabe said. “He asked another person to light a wick and then began to sled down a hill. At some point [...]

ScienceDaily (Jan. 8, 2010) — Fossils may provide tantalizing clues to human history but they also lack some vital information, such as revealing which pieces of human DNA have been favored by evolution because they confer beneficial traits — resistance to infection or the ability to digest milk, for example. These signs can only be [...]