Previously thought to be extinct, the ivory-billed woodpecker is found by a kayaker in an area between Little Rock and Memphis. Jubilant ornithologists compare the discovery to ‘finding Elvis’.

Normally, they reseed, but conditions must not be optimum in my yard. This one grows in the deep shade under two oak trees.

Careful examination of a found stone with a familiar pattern of holes leads to a search for the meaning behind an extra star.

Salamanders and zebrafish can repair their damaged hearts. Could we, someday, do the same?

A home-cooked burger, with onions, lettuce, mayo, cheese, and ketchup oozing out with each bite, can be a glorious thing. My microwave is still on the fritz, so I am eating leftover burger cold, and it has lost some of its charm. But it is excellent compared to the only other lunch alternative today - a cold, raw, whole chicken.

They are safe to eat if the diner abides by a few rules:

a) the third rain has fallen, when the bullfrog has croaked and bred
b) certain parts (feet, legs, thighs) are eaten
c) the cooking pot is lined with the wood of a certain tree, which neutralizes the toxin

If these precautions are ignored, the diner will experience the pain of Oshiketakata, or temporary kidney failure.

At Princeton and Caltech, engineers coax bacteria to communicate with one another using fluorescent light.

A cardiac surgeon recalls a late-night encounter with a benumbed support crew and an unresponsive patient. Unreponsive, that is, until the first cut.

Kidney stones can be caused by many factors, including nanobacteria. The bacteria produce a coating of mineral deposits, forming hard, stone-like objects. In the zero-gravity of space, these bacteria grow five times as fast.

Dying star shows signs of re-igniting, jolting astronomers’ expectations.

You Remind Me of Me, by Don Chaon. I’ve been looking for this, and found it tonight at the small neighborhood library, which was closing in 5 minutes. Then I got a marble fudge ice cream cone, which couldn’t be eaten neatly while at the keyboard, but I managed. I didn’t take a picture, because the other night when I posted a picture of my chocolate cake dessert, my boys over in Berkeley looked at it longingly, and debated whether I had made something that nice without them around.