[msnbc]
In the 16th century, the diseases Europeans brought to the New World decimated native peoples. The reforestation that came next may have ushered in one of the first instances of human-induced climate change, helping cause the Little Ice Age.

[Miller-McCune]
Variant of ebola virus found in Philippine swine.

[NewScientist]
A new material can rapidly change color to match that of any in the visible spectrum.

[News From Pitt]
University of Pittsburgh researchers have developed the first natural, nontoxic method for biodegrading carbon nanotubes, a finding that could help diminish the environmental and health concerns that mar the otherwise bright prospects of the super-strong materials commonly used in products, from electronics to plastics. The team has found that carbon nanotubes deteriorate when exposed to the natural enzyme horseradish peroxidase.

[Miller-McCune]
This model “suggests that all individuals, regardless of cultural background or religion, experience the same neurophysiological/neuropsychological functions during spiritual experiences,” according to co-authors Brick Johnstone and Bret A. Glass. It also attempts to explain why these brain activities are interpreted in such different ways by people from different religious traditions and cultures.

[EurekAlert!]
Biologists have tracked down genes that control the handedness of snail shells, and they turn out to be similar to the genes used by humans to set up the left and right sides of the body. The finding indicates that the same genes have been responsible for establishing the left-right asymmetry of animals for 500-650 million years, originating in the last common ancestor of all animals with bilateral body organization, creatures that include everything from worms to humans.

[Pink Tentacle]
Researchers from Japan’s ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories have developed new brain analysis technology that can reconstruct the images inside a person’s mind and display them on a computer monitor.

[inhabitat]
Recently the town of Heerlen in the Netherlands repurposed an old abandoned coal mine into a brilliant source of geothermal energy. The project takes advantage of flooded underground mine shafts, using their thermal energy to power a large-scale district heating system.

[Roger Alsing Weblog]
"Genetic" programming demo in which an algorithm evolves the Mona Lisa.

[Telegraph.co.uk]
Men are at risk of being "feminised" by thousands of "gender bending" chemicals that are changing the behaviour of humans and animals, according to a report.

[BBC News]
A material that can be squirted into broken bones, where it hardens within minutes, has been developed by UK scientists. The toothpaste-like substance forms a biodegradeable scaffold over which the body's own bone grows. Its makers say it could help remove the need for painful bone grafts in many cases.

[Gizmodo]
Homemade backyard digital observatory's spectacular images rivals Hubble's.