Origins of the swine flu virus

Closely related forms of the H1N1 strain of influenza virus circulated undetected in swine for years, a study published online June 11 in Nature reports. The virus, which has spread to multiple continents, has now been classified by the World Health Organization as a pandemic.
“Based on this report, we had a virus circulating in pigs [...]

Tiny Frozen Microbe May Hold Clues To Extraterrestrial Life

A novel bacterium — trapped more than three kilometres under glacial ice in Greenland for over 120,000 years — may hold clues as to what life forms might exist on other planets.
Dr Jennifer Loveland-Curtze and a team of scientists from Pennsylvania State University report finding the novel microbe, which they have called Herminiimonas glaciei, in [...]