Moderate Drinking May Boost Memory/high levels of alcohol can reinforce bad memories

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'"The results suggest that both doses of alcohol moderately improved the animals' ability to remember this negative event, since they seemed hesitant to go into the dark area," During said. "It also suggests that high levels of alcohol can reinforce bad memories.

"People who drink to forget bad memories may actually be doing the opposite by reinforcing the neural circuits that control negative emotional memory," he continued.'

Waste DNA possible cause for arthritis

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Fascinating hypothesis...our immune system also uses DNA as indicators of infection by microbes.. and DNA is quite universal so it might not be surprising that this creates problems...if someone shows that the 'garbage collectors' fail in function with age then perhaps it explains why arthritis appears in the elderly
"Like most of the molecular cogs that keep the human body running smoothly, DNA eventually outlives its usefulness and must be discarded. Red blood cells have no need for DNA and eject it once they become mature, and dying cells disintegrate, releasing DNA into the body. Special immune cells called macrophages function like garbage collectors, picking up this waste DNA and breaking it down."

Brad Pitt's kids are going to be average looking

lol sorry for the sensational title...
read these two articles ! it kinda throws a spin on sexual selection.

'Sexy males sire dowdy daughters and attractive females bear insipid sons – in fruit flies, at least.'
http://www.newscientist.com/
'Sometimes hunting down the best mate can backfire. The theory of sexual selection posits that choosy females seek out mates with elaborate antlers or splashy plumage,..'
http://www.sciam.com

Human species may split into two

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6057734.stm
Hahahah... not entirely baseless but I don't think it will happen.
Humans have been around for a while, I don't see more beautiful AND
intelligent ppl.

bacteria with smallest genome (making of an organelle?)

link at sciam
link at newscientist

Endosymbiosis resulted in the mitochrondria and chloroplast. always tot its a fancy theory that can't really be proven unless you have a time machine. but this bacterium might jus be at the crossroads of an endosymbiotic event!