A single gene in a caterpillar virus sends its victims running for the treetops, where they die and their bodies liquefy, sending an ooze of virus particles on their brothers and sisters below.

This species of baculovirus infects only gypsy moth caterpillars, essentially turning them into zombies. It stops the caterpillars from molting and sends them up into the tree leaves during the day (a behavior they normally save for the cover of darkness), where they die among the leaves as they wait to molt.

“They die there, and then they melt within hours after they die, and they are dripping virus down onto the leaves below,” said study researcher Kelli Hoover, of Pennsylvania State University. “We knew before that this behavior benefits the virus, but we didn’t know how it was causing the behavior.”

The viral gene, named egt, interferes with the caterpillar’s molting hormone and sends the caterpillars crawling upward.  The virus multiplies fiercely in almost every cell of the caterpillar’s body. When the caterpillar dies among the leaves, it undergoes a natural liquefaction process in which its exoskeleton disintegrates. Each drop of caterpillar goo contains millions of viruses.

Birds even help disperse the virus; when they scarf a caterpillar snack from the leaves, they bash it on branches to remove some of its hair. Slow-motion video shows this action not only dispenses of hair, but also expels droplets of liquefied caterpillar. The virus can even survive in the gut of the birds, to be rained down like viral bombs from above in their feces.

http://www.livescience.com/15962-zombie-caterpillar-virus.html

Thanks to Mr. C for bringing this to the attention of the It’s Interesting community.

In the video, shot by YouTube user “denisfarmer” and posted on accuweather.com, the clouds are moving fast, which is actually pretty typical for a big storm front like this one. As they do, a man’s profile seems to emerge, and even resembles Abraham Lincoln at one point.

we probably wouldn’t recognize faces in the the clouds at all if not for a brain phenomenon called pareidolia, the technical term for the common human tendency to seek out and find familiar patterns in random objects. It’s why a camera artifact might look like a base station on Mars, or ice floes look like crashed UFOs to some folks.  But humans are especially geared toward seeing faces, which partly explains why people have reported seeing the face of Gandhi on Mars, as well as the iconic “Face on Mars.” 

http://www.livescience.com/15496-face-clouds.html

Last month, Raymond Johnson, a 26-year-old single South Carolina man, discovered he was one of the estimated 2,100 men who are diagnosed with the disease each year.

Johnson, a tradesman who made $9 an hour, worked for a small outfit that did not provide health coverage.

Since he didn’t qualify for traditional Medicaid, he was urged by the hospital where he is receiving care to apply for help under The Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act.

This 11-year-old federal law uses funds from Medicaid for breast or cervical cancer patients who otherwise don’t qualify for Medicaid because their income is too high, explains Jeff Stensland, spokesperson for the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

The eligibility rules for coverage under the Act are complex, but Johnson met all criteria, except one: He isn’t a woman. “We want to cover this guy,” says Stensland, “but we simply can’t.”

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44065422/ns/today-today_health/t/breast-cancer-patient-denied-coverage-hes-man/?gt1=43001

In a potential breakthrough in cancer research, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have genetically engineered patients’ T cells — a type of white blood cell — to attack cancer cells in advanced cases of a common type of leukemia.

Two of the three patients who received doses of the designer T cells in a clinical trial have remained cancer-free for more than a year, the researchers said.

Experts not connected with the trial said the feat was important because it suggested that T cells could be tweaked to kill a range of cancers, including ones of the blood, breast and colon.

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-0811-cancer-therapy-20110811,0,1073777.story

Thanks to Mr. C for bringing this to the attention of the It’s Interesting community.

Reborns first started to appear in the early 1990s when toy enthusiasts wanted to create more realistic dolls.

Since then, demand has grown – with some creations fetching in excess of £1,000.

To achieve their lifelike appearance, the doll’s skin is painted in multiple layers in a mottled effect and veins are added.

They are weighted similarly to that of real newborns – and the hair and eyelashes are often rooted with mohair.

Some reborns come with a magnetic dummy or even a heartbeat.

They look so realistic that the police broke into a car to save one, thinking it was a real baby.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2020222/Bungling-police-smash-way-car-rescue-baby-hot-day–discover-DOLL.html#ixzz1Te6uXbhG

Joseph P. Williamson, 31, found the gas lid of the 1997 Saturn belonging to his girlfriend, Sommer M. Brocuglio, 34,open and became concerned the vehicle had been tampered with.  So, he decided to check the gas tank for sugar by siphoning gas with an electric leaf blower.

A spark from the blower ignited a fire and Williamson suffered serious burns.

http://www.baynews9.com/article/news/2011/july/283240/Deputies:-Man-burned-while-siphoning-gas-with-leaf-blower