Source: New Scientist

Reported by: ARealGirl

An awesome article that gives an overview of some "smart bandages." Very f-ing cool. Patch Quentin up and get his ass back in the game.

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Junkie Cindy Sheets sent me this, and it gives me a total military-scifi hardon. Imagine a military robot that is powered on biomass. And yeah, biomass includes dead bodies. Dead human bodies. So imagine machines that kill you, then eat you. Which means eventually, you're going to have robots that may kill you in order to eat you to get more power.

My mind is spinning with story possibilities for this one. Some of it may find its way into PANDEMIC, but not in the way you might expect. 

Junkies, in INFECTED, do you remember Perry flipping out about the parasitical wasp larvae that eat host caterpillars from the inside out? Well here's a fascinating story about how the wasps get that done. To make it work, the wasp has to stop the caterpillar from turning into a butterfly or a moth, and stop the caterpillar's immune system from attacking the parasitic larvae. This is done with chemicals that stop both processes, but here's the catch: the wasps inject genetic material into the caterpillar, this material bonds with the caterpillar, and similar to a virus, the caterpillar's natural processes actually make the chemical that allows the parasitical larvae to kill them!

This is some fucked-up biological Tom-foolery right here. Read the beginning of the article below, click on the link at the bottom to see the whole thing.

Ancient virus gave wasps power over caterpillar DNA

A historical viral infection gave some insects genes that allow them to parasitise their caterpillar hosts, a new study finds.

Many species of wasps lay their eggs inside caterpillars. To make this possible, the wasps' have a secret weapon in the form of a dose of virus-like particles that are injected along with the eggs.

Not only do these disable the caterpillars' immune system to stop it attacking the eggs, they also cause paralysis and keep the host from pupating - turning the caterpillar into an eternally youthful larder and nursery for the wasp grubs.

A closer look at these particles reveals that, although they look like viruses, they contain genetic material from the wasp, which is transcribed into the caterpillars' DNA - causing production of the very toxins that bring about their downfall.

Click here to read the whole article.

Awww, snap! Those wacky, mad scientists are at it again. Check out this story from the Telegraph (click here to read the story on their site, or read it below). ANCESTOR-style genetics in full effect. Story submitted to the FDO by Martyn Darkly.

By Richard Gray and Roger Dobson
Last Updated: 11:47PM GMT 31 Jan 2009

The Pyrenean ibex, a form of wild mountain goat, was officially declared extinct in 2000 when the last-known animal of its kind was found dead in northern Spain.

Shortly before its death, scientists preserved skin samples of the goat, a subspecies of the Spanish ibex that live in mountain ranges across the country, in liquid nitrogen.  read more »

Using DNA taken from these skin samples, the scientists were able to replace the genetic material in eggs from domestic goats, to clone a female Pyrenean ibex, or bucardo as they are known. It is the first time an extinct animal has been cloned. Click here to read the rest of the story.

Okay, not you, but fish get a parasite that iiterally makes them stop running away from predators. That's right, the parasite makes you a predator's bitch. Check out this article by Carl Zimmer, a huge influence on my work and already a winner of the Most Awesome Mother Fucker Ever award (the coveted MAM-FEE).

Click here to read Carl's article in Discover.com

Ants in my pants!: the cover of BloodCast, Season II, which features the story "Eusocial Networking."I wrote a short story called EUSOCIAL NETWORKING for J.C. Hutchins' OBSIDIAN series. The story's "big idea" revolves around leafcutter ants, which gather plant material, take it to a central spot in the nest, and let a special fungus break the material down into a liquid the ants use for food. In my story, scientists have modified the fungus to break things down faster and produce a raw component for biofuel. Because the ants gather autonomously and endlessly, many nests can be combined to produce an endless supply of this easily refined biofuel base (the ants, of course, have also been modified, and are the size of your hand with pincers that can take off a finger -- it's a friggin' Sigler story, maybe you were expecting puppies?).

Not that I would ever toot my own evil horn, but Pope Siglericus XXX has predicted real science yet again. Thanks to Junkie Tom "thalligan10" Halligan (pictured at right) for sending me this link. All of you whorish types that say I don't know my science just don't get it -- it's not about the nuts-and-bolts, the 1+1=2, it's about the concepts. I wouldn't know a particle accelerator from a bull's balls, but the Pope has the holy vision that let's him see deep into the future while entertaining your Junkie asses. Read it and weep, bitches!

Now, if these silly scientists would just start making fist-sized ants ...

Here's a great article provided by C. Nolan, that might just directly relate to a future project of Pope Siglericus XXX. Fascinating stuff!

Parasite turns host into bodyguard

A new study de­scribes yet an­oth­er strange case of ap­par­ently par­a­site-induced be­hav­ioral changes: a crea­ture that turns its host in­to its own, su­i­cid­ally de­vot­ed bod­y­guard.

Af­ter the par­a­sit­ic wasp Glypta­pan­te­les com­pletes an early life stage as an un­in­vit­ed guest in the body of a cat­er­pil­lar, the cat­er­pil­lar ex­hibits stun­ning changes, ac­cord­ing to re­search­ers. It stops eat­ing and stays close by the wasps, which by then are co­coons. It wraps them in a pro­tec­tive web of silk and de­fends them against ap­proach­ing preda­tors with vi­o­lent, re­lent­less head-swings.

> Click here to read the full article.

Submitted by Junkie Bob Harwig. Remember in THE ROOKIE when Quentin Barnes OD'ed on nano-meds? Take a look at this!

Nanoparticles help Gauze Stop Gushing Wounds

Medical gauze hasn't changed much since World War I: Medics can only stuff it into a gushing wound and pray.

Now chemists have infused cotton gauze with nanoparticles, giving it a vastly improved ability to halt blood loss -- even in tight spots like the neck or groin where it's hard to apply pressure. The new material could help save lives on the battlefield and in civilian situations, where trauma victims often bleed to death before they can be transported to a hospital or other medical facility.

> Click here to read the whole article: