Newly discovered bacteria are thriving two miles underground in groundwater which has been cut off from the surface for millions of years. Rather than using chemical energy produced at some point by photosynthesis, the bacteria make a living completely off of energy produced by radioactive decay - a first for any known form of life. This demonstrates another barrier broken by life on Earth and has huge implications regarding the possibility of life on other planets. The extended existence of these bacteria in an ecosystem completely isolated from, and presumably unaffected by, the surface of the planet suggests that life could exist on a planet where the surface has long been devoid of life. This gives new hope to those who hope to find signs of life on Mars. Let’s just not get too optimistic when we tear apart other worlds in search of anything that so much as looks like a cell. So far, finding life everywhere we look seems only to be the rule on Earth.

A mere six months after Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray, new reports surfaced today that a Florida man was stabbed in the chest by a stingray that jumped aboard his boat. What is going on here? Clearly the stingrays are fighting back. It was reported that after Steve Irwin’s death, mutilated stingrays were found on Australia beaches - apparently killed in retribution for the accidental death of Steve Irwin. Well, I’m afraid the word is out, and it’s on. Shark Attack: Humans vs. Stingrays. Who will survive? Stay tuned for the next gruesome encounter.

I feel the need to follow up on this post, which is over two months old. It discusses reports by public health experts that the health benefits of eating fish greatly outweigh the risks. So, guess what has been all over the health news this week? Reports that the health benefits of eating fish greatly outweigh the risks! The reports are based on two new comprehensive reviews of the health effects of seafood consumption.

While I have no problem with eating fish for health reasons, I still have doubts about the long term health effects of toxics which can accumulate in fish tissues. My main concern, however, is that increased seafood consumption could result in increased seafood harvest, impacting our delicate and threatened marine ecosystems in yet unknown ways. There are many initiatives underway to educate consumers on environmentally sound seafood choices. What we really need is a comprehensive assessment of which seafoods are safest for human consumption while also having minimal environmental impacts (efforts are underway, such as this one, which lists the Dungeness crab as the safest seafood). Until we know what is best for our health and the environment, I’m sticking to tofu. At least soybeans can’t blink at you. Well, not yet. Monsanto may be working on it.

A new study has found that one in eleven internet addicts tries to conceal the habit. The rest are either porn-addicts or bloggers (or porn-bloggers. Urgh). Us bloggers are just so excited about our online exploits that we recycle what we like online by blogging it. And then we blog about blogging. And if we’re really crazy, we start blogs about blogs, blogs that track what other blogs are saying about blogs, and blogs to blog about our other blogs that talk about bloggers blogging. Bloggedy blog blog.

As painful as it, stepping on a scale every day can help keep dieters keep the weight off. That is assuming you’re the type of person who will start dieting and exercising upon seeing that you’ve gained a few pounds, rather than going into a depressive downward spiral of binge eating pudding and Cheetos while watching 80’s movie marathons. For better results, wear a scale around your neck, Flava Flav style.

Yahoo is collecting digital media for a laser time capsule which will be beamed into the past and the future - the “past” being an ancient pyramid in Mexico and the “future” being space. What genius dreamed that up? Hmm, what’s more futuristic than outer space? And something ancient… I know, a pyramid! Yahoo is clearly meant to be “the present,” but that one’s not quite so obvious. Google easily overshadowed Yahoo’s ridiculous publicity stunt with a simple takeover of YouTube. But if you’re like me and still want your picture lasered onto the ommotidia of some poor helpless extraterrestrial’s compound eye, you can submit it to the time capsule here.

Using a new technique, doctors have found that a patient in a vegetative state can understand speech and respond by thinking about certain tasks upon request. The doctors used functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to map the brain patterns of the patient, who is in a vegetative state by any other definition. When asked to imagine that she was playing tennis or performing other specific tasks, her brain scan showed that she activated the same regions of her brain as fully conscious subjects visualizing the same tasks. Crazy! Although participating in this test can’t have been fun, it had to beat sitting in a bed all day thinking, “AAAAAAAH!”

Could we be one step closer to the Futurama world, where humans can live forever by having their heads mounted on robots? Check out the eerie resemblence of the Einsteinbot, presented at last weekend’s Next Fest.