George Steinmetz takes aerial landscape photos from lightest powered aircraft in the world, a motorized paraglider (and sometimes a helicopter, a motorized hang glider, and a hot air balloon). Some of the places he has photographed include Arabia's Empty Quarter; Africa; the Dead Sea; the Altiplano; the Salt Deserts of Iran; and China. Warning: Flash based image display. [more inside]
posted by Mitheral on Dec 23, 2009 - 16 comments

Somewhere on Earth, in a laboratory, a mouse is levitating. Science is awesome.
posted by ardgedee on Sep 10, 2009 - 63 comments

We Are All Mice Within the Lesser Vastness of the Not-Kaleidoscope. (SLYT) Structure elevates random into beautiful; individual impasse, in multiplicity, resolves into vibrant design; mirrors are weird; enter, The Duck. via Wired. (Can't find the original link any longer.)
posted by darth_tedious on Jun 21, 2009 - 13 comments

Production of healthy cloned mice from bodies frozen at −20°C for 16 years. Mammoths next?
posted by homunculus on Nov 4, 2008 - 22 comments

A 2007 Nobel Prize-winning breakthrough in genetics may hold the key to eliminating Trichotillomania: the gene Hoxb8 governs grooming behavior in mammals.
posted by hermitosis on Nov 7, 2007 - 12 comments

Brainbow. Using some very cool genetic tricks, Harvard scientists have found a way to make transgenic mice that express various mixtures of different coloured fluorescent proteins in their neurons. The result, individual brain cells with up to 90 distinct colours. Not surprisingly, this visually impressive work is in this month's issue of Nature.
posted by kisch mokusch on Nov 1, 2007 - 19 comments

Sweet mother of Christ that is a lot of mice. The Guiness Book of World Records' official record for worst mouse infestation ever (with video) will freak the shit out of you. Literally millions of meat-eating pig devouring Australian biblical plague mice!!
posted by jonson on Sep 20, 2007 - 100 comments

Radical Rodents: Chopsticks, Bunsen, Harry & Curly, surfing mice. An Australian man trained several mice on tiny surfboards. More surfing critters, a surfing dog and another one. Surfing parrot (video repeats in a couple of spots).
posted by nickyskye on Sep 3, 2007 - 17 comments

MIT researchers can reverse some symptoms of autism and mental retardation in mice by suppressing a specific enzyme. The research, conducted at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, is due to be posted on PNAS Online some time this week. Here is the MIT article. The specific symptoms reversed included hyperactivity, purposeless/repetitive movements, attention deficits and learning/memory challenges. The research was funded by the FRAXA Foundation, the Simons Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the National Institutes of Health. According to the CDC, the genetic causes treated by this particular technique (called FXS) affects one in 4,000 males and one in 6,000 females of all races and ethnic groups. I would be interested in hearing about reactions that might be taking place in the various autism-related communities.
posted by christopherious on Jun 26, 2007 - 25 comments

Bald? A swift blow to the head might solve that problem. If nothing else, it will give you something else to worry about for a while. Note: procedure tested on mice; results in humans may vary. Possible side effects include gaping head wounds. via Slate
posted by veggieboy on May 17, 2007 - 36 comments

Bisphenol A: this extremely common chemical leaches out of food packaging and plastics, and was long considered safe. But a number of recent studies link it to developmental problems and cancer in lab animals in doses far lower than the current regulatory limit. Canada and the United States both review the scientific data available in the coming months, but critics already worry the process will be corrupted by industry. Industry, of course, insists that BPA is safe.
posted by mek on Apr 7, 2007 - 32 comments

Hacking the Senses: The brain is far more plastic than we commonly realize. Presenting new 'senses' via the old inputs works extremely well, to the point that long-term volunteers are a little lost without their new abilities to feel magnetic north or absolute orientation. Tasting direction; feeling pictures. Fascinating stuff. In a loosely related article, genetically modified mice are able to see the full color range visible to humans, even though the last natural mouse able to see this way died out a hundred million years ago. Add the new sensors, and the brain reconfigures. [via]
posted by Malor on Apr 5, 2007 - 68 comments

Surfing Mice.
posted by fandango_matt on Feb 5, 2007 - 32 comments

Armor for cats and rats. Well, really it's cats and mice, but that doesn't rhyme as well.Token Samurai Cat Jeff de Boer, the artist (bio here) all links have been coralized to protect the webhost
posted by filmgeek on Dec 25, 2006 - 27 comments

Turning off anti-inflammatory response cures viral meningitis in mice. Chronic viral infections may one day be cured by suppression of interleukin-10 (IL-10).
posted by MonkeyC on Oct 23, 2006 - 9 comments

I'm embarassed for my mice to have to say this but ... Their testicles are HUGE, like almost as big as their heads. Good thing for humanity too, as mice testicles may provide a source of stem cells free of the usual ethical considerations.They may also hold the solutions to transplant rejection and infertility. Is there anything those fuzzy globes can't do?
posted by hindmost on Mar 28, 2006 - 22 comments

Holy Chimera - Fred Gage has spliced human brain cells into mice.
posted by sourbrew on Dec 12, 2005 - 33 comments

Mouse serenade: Tim Holy and Zhongsheng Guo at Washington University School of Medicine in Missouri discover the songs of mice. Published at the Public Library of Science, Biology, (non newsie, science article). Examples of the singing, 1- shifted down 4 octaves, timing intact (MP3 file) and, 2 - shifted down 4 octaves and slowed down 16 fold. (MP3 file) (partially via)
posted by edgeways on Nov 1, 2005 - 17 comments

Ever wonder where lab mice come from? [warning: flash.]
posted by Jon-o on Oct 31, 2005 - 20 comments

Genomic Art. This lies somewhere on an interface between science and art that most never suspected existed. Check out the gallery.
Oh, and don't forget to visit the Randolph Y. Teasely Hospital - Dwayne Medical Center and it's current projects: male pregnancy, designer babies and Clyven, the world's first talking transgenic mouse.
posted by talos on Jan 22, 2003 - 3 comments

The Mars Gravity Biosatellite Project is an unmatched international effort that pools top-notch technical talent from MIT, the University of Washington in Seattle, and the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. The mission is nothing short of groundbreaking. The plan is to build a spacecraft capable of housing a small crew of mice, including pregnant females, which will simulate the gravity of Mars to determine its effects on mammalian development.
posted by David Dark on Sep 18, 2002 - 9 comments

Producing sperm on the backs of mice. Well, the back of a laboratory mouse doesn't do anything - it just sits back there. Might as well put it to good use.
posted by percine on Aug 14, 2002 - 17 comments

Mice and Martians! Mice sent to Mars, first all-rodent space crew. I like the article's style: "The crew will have no exercise wheels, however. Their motion would interfere with the centrifugal force inside the spacecraft."
posted by agregoli on Aug 6, 2002 - 3 comments

Turning on a single gene makes mouse brains grow huge, and fold in the skull similarly to human brains. Fancy discussing Derida over tea with a rodent? more inside...
posted by daver on Jul 18, 2002 - 38 comments

3 Stench Ridden Days "For almost 3 damned days I couldn't find what was causing this god-awful smell. All of my house mates and I were convinced that there was a rotting mouse either under the floor boards or in the wall. Well I say all my house mates except for James William Ascroft-Leigh, who suggested the smell was coming from my computer. I laughed and called him a fool, claiming that the computer surley wouldn't work with a dead mouse in it..."
posted by aaronchristy on May 20, 2002 - 23 comments

Mouseageddon.

So this is what it sounds like when mice cry.
posted by Spoon on Jan 11, 2002 - 50 comments

Making art out of a Microsoft mouse. Tails of the City is a rather cool project that entails using a Microsoft mouse as the canvas. You can bid on the works if you so desire - but just check out the fine details! [k10k]
posted by hijinx on Mar 26, 2001 - 2 comments

Ebola is for wimps! Some Australian scientists were trying to come up with a mouse contraceptive vaccine, for use in pest control. And they succeeded. Unfortunately, the virus they created works by killing mice before they can breed, and killing them very very well. Oh, and it's extremely vaccine-resistant: 100% death without vaccine, 50% with. And any kid with a Li'l Johnny Gene Engineering Kit could conceivably make a human version. Anyone got some smallpox virus laying around?
posted by aaron on Jan 10, 2001 - 5 comments

Mutant Mice Drink More Alcohol, Recover Faster Now this is useful scientific research. Please alter my genes.
posted by PaperCut on Jun 1, 2000 - 1 comment