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A small sample of Sir Alexander Fleming’s original penicillin culture (above) was put up for sale by a London auction house in July. In 1955 Fleming had given the fungus to a neighbor to thank him for foiling a robbery at the famed microbiologist’s home. Fleming stumbled on the antibiotic properties of Penicillium mold in 1928, and over the course of the following decade University of Oxford bacteriologists and others expanded on his findings to develop the first antibiotic drug....

Researchers and the public alike have waxed enthusiastic about citizen science projects, in which professional and amateur scientists collaborate on experiments. And why not? Interested laypeople can engage directly in science, and for scientists like me, the setup provides manpower to tackle otherwise infeasible tasks. Until recently, prospective citizen astronomers or biologists have had their choice of projects, but few opportunities existed for amateurs interested in the human mind. Now the tide is turning....

A password manager is such an essential tool nowadays, I’m surprised Apple and Microsoft don’t build one into OS X and Windows. Or not, if you use a password manager. Like this one: today only, Bits Du Jour has AceBit’s Password Depot (Win) for free when you “like” both companies on Facebook. Regular price: $35.78. Update: The Bits Du Jour site was down for a while, perhaps owing to an onslaught of traffic....

To move visual technology into the future, sometimes it helps to make a little noise. Researchers have harnessed acoustic waves to produce levitating three-dimensional images, create a sensation of touch and even supply a soundtrack. Since the 1940s, scientists have toyed with the concept of acoustic levitation, the use of soundwave vibrations to trap tiny objects in midair. The technology has gained greater capabilities in the past decade, allowing acoustic systems to push and pull small particles around like sonic tractor beams....

Dear EarthTalk: How can I measure—and then improve—my overall “carbon footprint?” What are the major areas of one’s daily life that one measures? – Andy Fusco, Passaic, NJ With global warming dominating so many headlines today, it’s no surprise that many of us are looking to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases our activities produce. By assessing how much pollution each of your individual actions generates—be it setting your thermostat, shopping for groceries, commuting to work or flying somewhere for vacation—you can begin to see how changing a few habits here and there can significantly reduce your overall carbon footprint....

Take an advanced technology. Add a twist of fantasy. Stir well, and watch the action unfold. It’s the perfect recipe for a Hollywood tech-disaster blockbuster. And clichéd as it is, it’s the scenario that we too often imagine for emerging technologies. Think superintelligent machines, lab-bred humans, the ability to redesign whole species—you get the picture. The reality, of course, is that the real world is usually far more mundane: less “zombie apocalypse" and more “teens troll supercomputer; teach it bad habits....

Looking at COVID data in recent months, it may appear that a significant proportion of the people who have died of COVID were vaccinated against the disease. But it is important to put those numbers in context. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has compiled data from 28 geographically representative state and local health departments that keep track of COVID death rates among people age 12 and older in relation to their vaccination status, including whether or not they got a booster dose, and age group....

Archaeologists studying charred lake sediments found evidence confirming a cryptic historical record saying the ancient Mayan city of Bahlam Jol burned on May 21, A.D. 697. The research suggests it was an act of total warfare, which includes civilian as well as military targets. India Wildlife biologists found that adolescent male Asian elephants, usually solitary, are forming large, all-male herds, possibly to help them survive in human-dominated areas. Brazil Hong Kong Hong Kong’s government revealed plans to build an artificial island to alleviate the nation’s housing crisis, triggering concerns from activists and residents about nearby marine ecosystems....

NASA’s Juno spacecraft put itself into a temporary shutdown at 10:47 p.m. US Pacific Daylight time on October 18 as it approached a fly-by of Jupiter. It was the mission’s second glitch in a week, following a problem with its propellant system. Juno remains safe and is looping around Jupiter on a 53.5-day elliptical orbit. But the spacecraft did not gather scientific data as it whizzed 5,000 kilometres above the giant planet’s cloudtops on this, its second close pass since arriving at Jupiter on July 4....

Denial: Self-Deception, False Beliefs, and the Origins of the Human Mind Ajit Varki Danny Brower Twelve, 2013 ($27.00) About 100,000 years ago something in our ancestors changed. Humans began to show new behaviors that set them apart from all other animals on the planet. Most notably, they began creating symbolic art and ornaments. For the first time, people wanted to adorn themselves and their dead, activities that suggested a newfound interest in the perceptions of others....

For decades two very different treatments of depression have existed side by side. Medications act on molecules, cells and synapses in the brain. Psychological therapies focus on cognition and behavior, trying to alter negatively biased thinking. Now a new theory suggests that these interventions may work in more similar ways than anyone realized, providing an opportunity to better integrate the two approaches. More important, it may help provide patients faster, more reliable relief from this crippling condition....

Way back in 1999, when we, by definition, partied as per Prince’s instructions, I wrote about a study concerning the advantages to humanity if we could get smaller. Not down to the five inches in height depicted in the 2017 movie Downsizing but enough to be noticeable. We would need less food, decrease our waste production and maybe even live longer. Another advantage, according to that old study: “When a 20% taller person trips, he or she hits the ground with 210% more kinetic energy than a shorter person....

Many motorists chuckle smugly after giving their cars a little extra gas to leave a Toyota Prius or some other eco-friendly automobile in the dust. But Toyota and its Earth-loving ilk may yet have the last laugh as they cultivate encouraging new advances in ultracapacitor technology that promise to one day put hybrids in the driver’s seat. The greatest victory so far for the cars, fueled by a combo of electricity and gas, came just weeks ago when an ultracapacitor-equipped Toyota Supra HV-R coupe became the first hybrid to win the 24-hour endurance car race held at Japan’s Tokachi International Speedway....

The heaviest element that humans have ever found is called oganesson. Each atom of the stuff packs a whopping 118 protons into its dense center. In contrast, hydrogen—the most abundant element in the universe, something you can find in your body, Earth’s oceans and even the atmosphere of Jupiter—has only one. Scientists announced the discovery of oganesson in 2006, when a Russian-American team used a particle accelerator in Dubna, Russia, to fire millions of trillions of calcium ions at a target of heavy atoms....

Researchers report genetic evidence bolstering the socially contentious idea that polygyny—the mating practice where some males dominate reproduction by fathering children with several women—was the norm for sexual behavior throughout human history and prehistory. Because polygyny means other men father few or no children, the study, published today in PLoS Genetics, also shows that, on average, women bequeath more genes to their offspring than men do. The proportion of female to male genes passed on is not yet known....

Our protagonist moves to the big city, seeking a better life. It’s a classic—and increasingly common—tale. More than half the world’s population now lives in a metropolis, and by 2050 that figure will very likely jump to two thirds. China’s megacities in particular are fueling the trend, with more than 10 million new residents every year. Historically, urbanization has brought about stupendous changes—the Renaissance, the industrial revolution, globalization. Yet this urban migration represents one of the most dramatic environmental shifts human beings have ever undertaken....

It’s morning rush hour in the nation’s capital, and bicyclists crowd their lane six deep at an intersection. Clad in spandex and business suits, a few ride the bright green, orange, red or yellow bikes that signal a new phase of city cycling. These shared bikes are part of an experimental network of dockless cycles. Officials hope the pilot program changes how people get around. The District of Columbia boasts some positive results in its mission to curb gridlock and reduce pollution — like the most rapid rise in bike commuters among major cycling cities....

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.—Last night I witnessed the aftermath of the brief, angry riot at Penn State: an overturned news van being righted by a bulldozer, debris from battered cars and upended trash cans littering the street, college kids in “Joe Knows Football” t-shirts stumbling away from College Avenue with pepper sprayed red eyes and tear-stained faces, courtesy of the police. The students had reacted violently to the 10 p.m. announcement from the university’s board of trustees that Joe Paterno, their beloved football coach, was fired....

By Ewen CallawayHuman skin cells can be transformed into blood without first being sent through a primordial, stem-cell-like state, according to a ground-breaking study.The breakthrough, published online today in Nature, follows work earlier this year showing that fibroblast cells from mouse skin, treated with the right cocktail of chemicals, can be transformed into neurons and heart muscle. However, it is the first study to accomplish this feat with human cells, and the first to create progenitor cells – in this case for blood....

BEIJING (Reuters) - Commentaries by two of China’s most influential news outlets suggesting that the country’s air pollution crisis was not without a silver lining drew a withering reaction on Tuesday from internet users and other media.In online commentaries on Monday, state broadcaster CCTV and the widely read tabloid the Global Times, published by the Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, both tried to put a positive spin on China’s smog problem....